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The Knicks’ front office may have given Mike Brown the green light.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speculated that Leon Rose’s crew OK’d the Knicks’ coach ripping the referees after Monday’s 115-111 home loss to the Spurs in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
The Spurs shot 34 free throws to the Knicks’ 22, including a 24-8 edge in the second half when San Antonio overcame a seven-point halftime hole to slice their series deficit to 2-1.
“I know Mike Brown and I have covered Mike Brown at times when he’s been upset with officiating in the playoffs, and he has had a conscious conversation with the front office. ‘Do we go in there and make an issue of the officiating?'” Windhorst said on ESPN after the game. “While I don’t know for sure, I suspect that they made a decision, ‘Let’s go in there and make this a topic of conversation.'”
Going after the referees can be a bit of a chess game, with the hope that it can sometimes lead to better calls in the future or perhaps the referees adjusting how they call the game.
Coaches have to be careful too since they risk a potential fine, although at this point in the season it’s fair to assume Brown will gladly pay that violation if a better whistle helps the Knicks win the title.
Monday’s game marked the third straight in this series in which the Spurs have attempted more free throws than the Knicks, and the Knicks have been called for more fouls in the last two games.
Finals Tale of the Tape: Fouls and free throws
| Game 1 fouls committed | 23 | 23 |
| Game 1 free throw attempts | 18 | 25 |
| Game 2 fouls committed | 23 | 20 |
| Game 2 free throw attempts | 21 | 27 |
| Game 3 fouls committed | 23 | 21 |
| Game 3 free throw attempts | 22 | 32 |
The Knicks have committed 69 fouls to the Spurs’ 64, leading to them attempting 61 free throws compared to the Spurs’ 84.
In the second half Monday night, the Spurs connected on 20 of their 24 free-throw attempts to maintain their lead while the Knicks made six of their eight.
“I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” Brown said. “I don’t think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free-throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team. They are a great team, OK. It’s going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4 and in the second half, they get 24 free-throw attempts to our eight. Maybe we were fouling. Maybe we were fouling. But they fouled, too.”
The Knicks seemed particularly miffed with San Antonio’s physicality in the contest, including a no-call when Victor Wembanyama shoved Jalen Brunson’s neck area in the first quarter.
Brunson did not appreciate one play in which Spurs guard Stephon Castle ran him over, while Josh Hart objected after being bumped by Luke Kornet under the basket.
The Knicks actually held a 14-8 edge in free-throw attempts in the first half — and a 64-57 lead at the break — but the Spurs shot 14 and 10 in the next two quarters, respectively.
“Again, I don’t complain much,” Brown said during his lengthy rant after his team lost for the first time in 14 games. “I never thought I’d see that in an NBA Finals game, and I saw it tonight. That’s tough to overcome when you’re playing against a great team. … But as a team, if you take away the fouls and the free throws that should have, in my opinion, been a little bit more even, again maybe we fouled that many times but they fouled, too. And it’s not shown at the end of the day on this boxscore.”
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