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  • Knicks’ historic Game 4 comeback: The numbers and social media reaction

    The Knicks are one win away from the NBA championship following the largest comeback in NBA Finals history.

    New York stormed back against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, taking a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals following a 107-106 victory.

    San Antonio led by as many as 29 points in the game, including 15 points entering the fourth quarter. Prior to Wednesday, there had been one comeback of at least 15 points entering the fourth quarter in Finals history — in Game 6 of the 1992 Finals, the Chicago Bulls overcame a 79-64 deficit, according to ESPN Research.

    The 29-point comeback by the Knicks is the largest in the NBA Finals since 1971 as well as the third 20-point comeback in this time, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

    Here are the key numbers and reaction around the sports world to New York’s improbable victory.

    76: San Antonio was firing on all cylinders in the first half, putting up 76 points. It marked the most points the Spurs — or any team — had ever scored on the road in the first half of an NBA Finals game.

    It was also the most the Knicks had ever allowed in the first half of a playoff game.


    46: It was a game of two halves for the Spurs. After scoring 76 points in the first half, they had just 30 in the second half.

    Per Elias, that 46-point decrease ties the largest from a first half to second by any team in a playoff game in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).

    Spurs legend and four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili didn’t hide his pain following the Game 4 defeat.

    36: Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points on 12-of-25 shooting. He also added seven assists and five rebounds on the night. That followed up a Game 3 where Brunson had 32 points plus five assists and rebounds apiece.

    Brunson is the first player with consecutive Finals games in a single series with at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists since LeBron James had a three-game streak in 2017. He joins James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant as the only players to have consecutive Finals games of 30-5-5 since 2000 (streaks within a single Finals).


    2.1: OG Anunoby put the Knicks ahead for good with a tip-in that left just 2.1 seconds in the game. He finished with a playoff career-high 33 points on the night. Brunson and Anunoby are the first Knicks duo with at least 30 points in the same NBA Finals game.

    It marked Anunoby’s second career go-ahead field goal in the final five seconds of a playoff game. He made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 3 of the 2020 eastern conference semifinals. Per Elias, Anunoby is the fifth player in the play-by-play era (1998) to make his first two career go-ahead attempts in the final five seconds of a playoff game.

    His game-winner stunned the sports world.

    1:22 New York had to battle back practically the entire game. It took its first lead with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter following a bucket from Brunson.

    The Knicks led for just 2% of the game.


    0.4% Early in the fourth quarter, it didn’t seem like it would be in the cards for New York. It faced a 95-75 deficit with 9:33 remaining in the game.

    According to ESPN analytics, the Knicks had just a 0.4% chance of winning the game.

    Magic Johnson and Russell Wilson led the reaction to New York storming back to win the game.

  • Knicks complete record rally from 29 points down and beat Spurs 107-106 for 3-1 NBA Finals lead

    Jalen Brunson says ‘belief’ inspired Knicks’ epic comeback in Game 4

    NEW YORK — — The New York Knicks made a record comeback from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 on Wednesday night.

    OG Anunoby tipped in the miss of Jalen Brunson’s long 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds remaining to complete the rally, giving the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and three chances to win the title.

    It looked impossible early, when the Spurs rolled to a 27-point halftime lead. But Brunson helped bring the Knicks back with 36 points and Anunoby finished with 33, swooping in as Brunson’s shot bounced softly off the front of the rim and stretching high with his right hand to tap it in.

    “I told OG as big, as strong, as athletic as he is, he’s got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “I don’t know if there was a play bigger than any other play in the history of Knicks basketball.”

    Game 5 is Saturday night in San Antonio.

    No team had come from more than 24 points down in a finals game, when Boston did it against the Lakers in 2008, since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters in 1997. The Spurs led 81-52 in the third quarter.

    The only bigger comeback on record in any playoff game was 31 points by the Los Angeles Clippers against Golden State in Game 2 of a first-round series in 2019.

    The Knicks had their 13-game winning streak snapped in Game 3 and seemed headed for a second straight defeat throughout the first half, when Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs opened the biggest halftime lead by a visiting team in the finals.

    But the young Spurs, who made 11 of their first 16 3-pointers, went cold in the second half, going 3 for 17 behind the arc as the Knicks outscored them 58-30.

    “We got on our heels — we missed some shots,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s disappointing, to say the least.”

    Delirious fans inside Madison Square Garden sang along to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” a few minutes after watching something that seemed almost impossible.

    Wembanyama had 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot just 9 for 25 from the field.

    Road teams had won the first three games, only the second time that had happened in the finals. San Antonio was well on its way to making it 4 for 4.

    President Donald Trump wasn’t at this game — Taylor Swift was — but the same restrictions remained around Madison Square Garden as when he attended Game 3. That angered the Knicks, who decided not to go forward with plans to hold an outdoor watch party outside the arena.

    Inside the building in the first half, there wasn’t much for the hosts to be happy about, either.

    But the Knicks gave themselves a chance by limiting the Spurs to 14 points on 4-for-20 shooting in the third quarter, using a 13-0 run to get back in it and cutting it to 90-75 heading to the fourth.

    These Knicks, who erased a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, just don’t quit. Even when the comeback seemed for naught when Stephon Castle was fouled after the Knicks had taken the lead and made two free throws to put San Antonio back ahead with 30 seconds left, the Knicks had one more rally in them.

    Dylan Harper scored 21 points and De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell each had 18 for the Spurs, who will try to regroup and send the series back to New York for Game 6 on Tuesday.

    “I think it began before (the fourth quarter),” Wembanyama said of the Spurs’ collapse. “I can’t really explain it right now. I don’t know. … We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”

    Fans booed Wembanyama when he came on to the floor to warm up about an hour before the game and the Knicks tried to get rough with him, with Mitchell Robinson called for a flagrant foul for hitting him above the shoulders and Jose Alvarado reviewed for one after going below the belt.

    Wembanyama — who was also called for a flagrant — stood up OK against the Knicks but will regret the two free throws he missed with 1:47 left and San Antonio leading 104-103.

    The Spurs broke to a 12-2 lead, giving them a double-digit advantage in the first quarter of all four games. They kept pouring it on and led 41-22 after one, then extended it to 57-32 when Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer made them 11 for 16 behind the arc.

  • Díaz and Burger lead the Rangers to a 6-4 win over the Royals in 10 innings

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — — Elias Díaz hit a go-ahead double in the 10th inning as the Texas Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Wednesday night.

    Jake Burger came off the bench and tied the score twice for the Rangers in the late innings, with a home run in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the eighth. He entered as a pinch hitter in the fifth and finished 2 for 2 with a walk and a run.

    Díaz’s one-out double off Alex Lange (0-3) in the 10th scored automatic runner Ezequiel Duran from second base to give Texas a 5-4 lead. With two outs, Josh Jung drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in another run — one of nine free passes issued by Kansas City pitchers.

    Jakob Junis (1-1) struck out three in two hitless innings for the win. Jacob Latz escaped a big jam in the bottom of the 10th for his 10th save.

    With the bases loaded and nobody out, Latz threw a called third strike past Isaac Collins before getting Tyler Tolbert to ground into a game-ending double play.

    Royals starter Seth Lugo left in the fourth after getting hit in the head by a 106.6 mph line drive off the bat of Brandon Nimmo, a teammate for seven years with the New York Mets.

    Lugo was able to stand back up without assistance, and he spoke to teammates and the Royals’ athletic training staff as he walked off the field.

    In a post on social media, the team said: “Seth Lugo is doing well after exiting tonight’s game and will undergo the appropriate protocol and testing.”

    Burger hit his 11th homer in the seventh to tie the score at 3. Nick Loftin tripled home a run in the bottom half before Burger evened it again with a sac fly in the eighth.

    Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore went five innings. He allowed two runs and eight hits with six strikeouts.

    Collins, Jac Caglianone and Lane Thomas each had an RBI single for the Royals.

    Texas designated hitter Joc Pederson was lifted for Burger in the fifth because of left hip discomfort.

  • Cortes and Butler homer to rally A’s to 4-3 win over the Brewers

    LAS VEGAS — — Carlos Cortes and Lawrence Butler hit towering home runs in the seventh inning to rally the Athletics to a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night and win the series.

    The A’s took two of three at Las Vegas Ballpark, home to their Triple-A affiliate. They are playing this week before their future fans as a stadium is scheduled to open on the Strip in 2028.

    The A’s had already set the franchise record for a three-game series with 12 homers before this game and then added three more. That included one from Alika Williams, who had his first career home run with a solo shot in the sixth.

    Then in the seventh, Cortes hit a 461-foot solo shot to right-center field and Butler followed two batters later with a two-run homer that traveled 463 feet to center. Both came off Chad Patrick (3-3).

    Five A’s relievers shut out the Brewers over the final five innings, with Scott Barlow (2-0) getting the win and Elvis Alvarado his first save.

    Milwaukee starter Brandon Sproat allowed four hits and a run over six innings and exited with a 3-1 lead.

    Gary Sanchez smashed a 466-foot solo home run in the second inning for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio also homered for a 3-0 lead.

    The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz’s three-game homer streak ended, but Zack Gelof extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

    Rooker sits out

    A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker did not play for the second game in a row because of knee soreness. Manager Mark Kotsay said a more thorough evaluation will be made during the club’s off day Thursday.

    Rooker, a two-time All-Star who has hit 30-plus home runs the past three seasons, is hitting .200 with 10 homers.

  • Ohtani rues non-challenge as Dodgers blow 5-run lead to Pirates

    PITTSBURGH — Shohei Ohtani doesn’t like to get in the way of his catchers.

    The way the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar looks at it, when he’s on the mound, his job is to throw the ball. It’s up to the guys behind the plate to decide whether to challenge an umpire’s call of a ball or a strike.

    That deference might have cost Ohtani and the Dodgers in a stunning 9-8 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

    Los Angeles was cruising when Ohtani went out for the seventh inning for just the third time this season. The Dodgers led by five thanks to Ryan Ward’s first career grand slam, and Ohtani seemed poised to win his fifth straight start.

    Then things unraveled, a rarity for the two-time defending world champions and the greatest player in the game.

    Pirates rookie Tyler Callihan singled. Jake Mangum reached on a swinging bunt. Still, Ohtani and the blister on his right hand that is temporarily limiting the number of split-fingered fastballs he throws felt like he was in pretty good shape when Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe stepped to the plate.

    Ohtani quickly fell behind 3-0, with the first and third pitches borderline calls on 98 mph fastballs that home plate umpire Felix Neon ruled balls. Catcher Dalton Rushing didn’t challenge, and with just one challenge remaining, Ohtani decided it probably wasn’t worth the risk.

    Lowe quickly made Ohtani pay, turning on a fastball down the middle for a two-run double that ended Ohtani’s night on the mound and set the stage for a five-run rally against the Dodger bullpen in the eighth that gave the Pirates perhaps their most unlikely win of the season.

    Ohtani, who allowed season highs in hits (six), runs (four) and earned runs (three), couldn’t help but think afterward that he should have tapped the top of his cap earlier in the at-bat so the ABS system could take a look.

    “I usually let the catchers make that determination,” he said. “But looking back, I think situationally, how important it was that at-bat, looking back I think I could have done a few challenges.”

    Shohei Ohtani cruised through the first six innings but allowed a two-run double to Brandon Lowe in the seventh, setting the stage for the Pirates’ come-from-behind win.

    Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called challenging pitches an “inexact science” and, like Ohtani, is fine leaving it in the hands of the players with the best view in the stadium. And, if the umpire’s call was confirmed, it meant Los Angeles would be out of challenges heading into the final innings.

    Besides, how often does Ohtani and the Los Angeles bullpen blow a five-run lead? Not often. Even after Lowe’s double and an error by third baseman Max Muncy that allowed Lowe to score, the Dodgers were still up two heading into the eighth.

    Los Angeles entered the night a tidy 36-3 when leading after seven. Callihan — who hit the first homer of his career earlier in the game with a 427-foot shot off Ohtani — gave the Pirates the lead with a three-run blast in the eighth. Spencer Horwitz then added a two-run homer to give Pittsburgh the kind of cushion it needed after Ohtani delivered a two-run home run of his own in the top of the ninth to cut the deficit to one.

    “You’re not going to face too many guys like that,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “There’s one. It’s ridiculous what he’s able to do.”

    Even if Ohtani showed small glimpses of vulnerability during his first-ever start at PNC Park. Ohtani acknowledged shaking off Rushing a few times, something he attributed to not working with the Los Angeles reserve catcher that often.

    “It’s something you just have to have a conversation here and there and be on the same page,” Ohtani said.

    The two could be working together more often in the near future after Roberts announced postgame that starter Will Smith is heading to the 10-day injured list with a neck injury.

    Ohtani will have nearly a week off until his next scheduled turn in the rotation. Though the work never really stops. Roberts said the plan is for Ohtani to lead off as usual during Thursday’s series finale rather than give him a break after — statistically anyway — his toughest day on the hill this season.

    That’s just the way Ohtani wants it.

    “I’m always going to be prepared to play tomorrow,” he said.

  • Dolphins, Aaron Brewer reach 3-year, $52.5 million extension

    MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins and center Aaron Brewer agreed Wednesday to a three-year extension that will make him one of the highest-paid centers in the league, his agent, Kyle McCarthy of Athletes First, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

    The deal is worth up to $52.5 million with $37 million guaranteed, making Brewer the fifth-highest paid center in the NFL in terms of total contract value and the third-highest paid center in terms of average annual value ($17.5 million). It more than doubles the value of the three-year, $21 million deal Brewer signed with Miami in 2024.

    Since signing his initial contract with the Dolphins, Brewer owns the 10th-best pass block win rate of any qualified center in the league and has allowed seven sacks in 1,127 pass blocking snaps.

    In their first offseason under general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley, the Dolphins underwent a near-complete roster overhaul this offseason. Several established starters were either cut, traded or allowed to walk in free agency.

    But Sullivan identified running back De’Von Achane, Brewer and linebacker Jordyn Brooks as the team’s three “pillars” that Miami would prioritize extending this offseason. Achane reached a four-year, $64 million extension in May; the Dolphins have yet to extend Brooks.

    Brewer had a career season in 2025 and was named a second-team All-Pro as well as a finalist for the inaugural Protector of the Year award. Speaking to reporters at the Dolphins’ final week of OTA practices, Brewer said he is aiming for more in 2026.

    “Keep pushing for more,” he said. I feel like every year is a new year, and so every year you got to prove yourself again. I was second team All-Pro last year, but this year I want to be first-team All-Pro. I wasn’t Pro Bowler last year, I want to be Pro Bowler this year. Nominee for Protector of the Year, I want to be the Protector of the Year. That’s what keeps pushing me and keeps me thriving ever year.

    “Every year is a clean slate, new year. I’m not Aaron Brewer from last year; I’m the Aaron Brewer that’s going to put on tape this year.”

    An undrafted free agent out of Texas State in 2020, Brewer spent his first four seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Since joining Miami, he has missed only one game, starting 33 games exclusively at center.

    He also spent two seasons in Tennessee with quarterback Malik Willis, who signed a three-year contract with the Dolphins this offseason. Brewer said he has noticed a difference in Willis after spending the past two seasons apart.

    “It’s a lot different [now],” Brewer said. “Well I wouldn’t even say it’s a lot different because he’s still the same guy. But you can tell his game developed over time from him going to Tennessee, him going to Green Bay and just having that experience on his belt, he has more knowledge of the game. I feel he’s more comfortable in the game as well now, so it just dope to see the development and how far he came so far.”

  • Hurts: Nothing can take away what Eagles, Brown accomplished

    PHILADELPHIA — Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts addressed the A.J. Brown trade for the first time since it became official Wednesday, briefly focusing on what they achieved during their four years together before spinning things forward.

    “You come into it and you have a sense of pride in how it began and definitely what we were able to accomplish,” he said. “Nothing can take that away. For the great things that we did, now it’s time to focus on achieving great things with this new iteration of the team.”

    Brown and Hurts joined up to help Philadelphia to four playoff appearances in as many years, including two trips to the Super Bowl and a world championship. Brown set a career high with 1,496 receiving yards in 2022 and followed that up with another 1,400-plus yard campaign the following year.

    But the passing offense left something to be desired over the past season-plus and Brown was not shy about sharing his frustrations. He expressed his desire to be elsewhere at the beginning of the offseason and was officially traded to the New England Patriots on June 1 for a future first- and fifth-round pick.

    Brown recently acknowledged that he and Hurts are not as tight as they once were but that there is “still a lot of love” between the once best friends.

    “I’m not in a place to challenge anyone’s perspective on anything …That’s where I am,” Hurts said. “I have always been focused on the collective, put my energy towards that and as a leader, I’ve always put an onus on giving maximum effort to achieve the shared mission we have as a team.”

    The Eagles are in the midst of installing a new scheme under offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. The learning curve was evident during minicamp, as the passing game looked out of sync at times. Still, Hurts and others expressed optimism about where the offense is heading.

    “I thought it was a really good spring. Being able to onboard another new system and put everything together, lay the foundation, I’m encouraged by that,” Hurts said. “I’m encouraged by the work we were able to put in. We have a fun summer ahead of us.”

  • Argentina players’ passport details leaked in security oversight

    June 10 : A security oversight leaked the passport details of every player in the Argentina squad for Tuesday’s pre-World Cup warm-up friendly against Iceland, including Lionel Messi, media reports said.

    The passport numbers, listed on the official team sheet, should have been blurred before being released to the media and the public. But in Alabama’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, they were circulated without redaction.

    Argentina won the match 3-0 in front of over 88,000 people, as Messi marked his return from a hamstring injury by scoring within two minutes of coming on in the second half.

    Lautaro Martinez was fouled in the box after receiving a through-ball from Messi.

    Messi calmly converted the resulting penalty to put his team 2-0 ahead and became Argentina’s oldest goalscorer at the age of 38 years and 11 months, two months older than Angel Labruna, who had held the previous record since 1957.

    Argentina will kick off their title defence with a Group J match against Algeria on Tuesday.

  • World Cup waterbreaks offer lucrative opportunity for broadcasters

    LONDON, June 10 : With hot weather due and memories fresh of the scorching 2025 Club World Cup, FIFA has for the first time mandated three-minute hydration breaks in each half for all 104 matches of the World Cup starting this week in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

    While players replenish and viewers perhaps grab some snacks, broadcasters have a big new opportunity to give advertisers extra prime-time air and boost their revenues.

    The stoppages will be a further instance of the World Cup mirroring American-style sports events packed with commercials and razzmatazz, with a halftime show featuring Colombian singer Shakira at the July 19 final echoing the National Football League’s Super Bowl event.

    FIFA says its approach to water breaks is based on player-welfare concerns, but it could also support the growth of media rights as networks are incentivised to compete by the revenue opportunity.

    Such breaks at a World Cup were first implemented during the Netherlands v Mexico game in 2014 in Brazil when temperatures exceeded 32 degrees Celsius, and were then considered on a match-by-match basis.

    Michael Johnson, a research analyst covering the U.S. sports industry for S&P Global, told Reuters the addition of hydration breaks could be “extremely valuable and could potentially command those Super Bowl level prices within that seven to probably nine-million-dollar range”.

    Advertisers recognise what exposure they could gain from the World Cup – the Argentina v France final from Qatar in 2022 reached a total of 1.42 billion viewers.

    “U.S. viewers are used to the NFL style model, NBA style model four quarters. They’re used to in-game breaks. This World Cup is essentially a mirror to those style models,” Johnson said.

    Conversely, in European football, leagues like the English Premier League are traditionally broadcast on pay-TV networks like British broadcaster Sky, where viewers watch adverts before, at halftime, and after matches.

    “I think even subscription broadcasters like Sky in the UK would be very happy to have a little bit more advertising inventory,” said Francois Godard, an independent analyst covering sports industries. 

    But following this in-game ad model could bring fan backlash in non-U.S. markets from its Americanisation of the event, especially in Europe where most leagues play in winter.

    “Soccer is infamous for continuous play. And purists are kind of worried about how this kind of Americanises the game… And create viewer fatigue, more ads could annoy fans, especially if they feel intrusive or excessive,” Johnson added.

    MORE BREAKS A TURN OFF FOR EUROPEAN FANS

    Structured breaks could dampen the emotional investment of fans already put off by frequent stops of a few minutes for Video Assistant Referee checks. A Football Supporters’ Association survey in the Premier League found that only 3.3 per cent of fans found their matchday experience improved with VAR.

    It is unclear how many of the myriad global broadcasters transmitting the World Cup will cash in on the water breaks to show adverts.

    In Britain, where the sport began, broadcaster ITV has already said it will not show adverts during the hydration breaks due to strict advertising limits set by UK regulator Ofcom. 

    “ITV is seeing regulatory issues and this is the first thing on their mind, but they also have to meet expectations from viewers. And I am not sure that British viewers would have been very welcoming to more advertising,” Godard said.

    Meanwhile, the expanded 48-team tournament, from 32 before, will help FIFA’s total 2026 revenue reach $8.9 billion, with TV broadcasting rights accounting for 44 per cent of the contribution, according to FIFA’s 2026 budget.

    FIFA has yet to say whether hydration breaks will be a permanent feature of tournaments going forward, but the 2030 and 2034 editions will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, all countries where temperatures in the traditional June-July window can climb well above 30 C.

    The combination of growing media rights cycles and hydration breaks could lead to competitive bidding between streaming platforms and traditional broadcasters for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments, although in some territories the rights for 2030 have already been awarded.

    “You’ll see most likely the streaming giants come into play, you know, Apple, Amazon, and especially Netflix, I think will be in the mix,” Johnson said, adding that the World Cup rights deal of Fox Sports, the sports programming division of U.S. media company Fox, expires after the 2026 tournament. 

    Streaming giant Netflix has U.S. broadcasting rights for the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031, adding to a live sports portfolio that includes TKO-owned World Wrestling Entertainment and NFL matches.

  • Knicks out to start new streak, while Spurs aim to knot series

    NEW YORK – Even as they authored the second-longest postseason winning streak in NBA history, the New York Knicks knew it wouldn’t be easy to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.

    NEW YORK – Even as they authored the second-longest postseason winning streak in NBA history, the New York Knicks knew it wouldn’t be easy to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.

    Beginning Wednesday, they’ll find out just how arduous the rest of the path might become.

    The Knicks will look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals while the San Antonio Spurs will aim to knot the best-of-seven series when New York hosts San Antonio in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

    The Spurs climbed back into the Finals Monday night, when Victor Wembanyama produced 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks as San Antonio held off the Knicks for a 115-111 win.

    The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Knicks, who went 45 days without a defeat following a 109-108 setback against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on April 23.

    New York fell two wins shy of matching the 2017 Golden State Warriors, who won their first 15 postseason games en route to the title.

    “Every loss kind of hurts the same,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said Tuesday. “That’s a good team. We knew they weren’t just going to lay down and let us win four straight. We knew this was going to be a battle.”

    The battle grew increasingly heated Monday.

    Wembanyama was not charged with a foul after shoving Jalen Brunson to the floor with a little under five minutes left in the first quarter.

    “He got away with one,” Knicks backup guard Jose Alvarado said Tuesday. “That’ll be the last one.”

    Hart was whistled for a technical with 3:24 left in the first period when he shoved Luke Kornet after Kornet bumped into him following Hart’s coast-to-coast layup. In the third, Brunson’s foul of Julian Champagnie on a 3-point attempt was upgraded to a flagrant.

    “The Knicks play super, super physical,” Champagnie said Tuesday. “That’s a part of their identity. We obviously have to do a good job of matching that and doing more of that. But I’m assuming it’s not going to get (any) easier.”

    The Knicks also found it difficult Monday to overcome Brunson’s inefficiency and Karl-Anthony Towns’ fourth-quarter struggles.

    Brunson scored a team-high 32 points Monday but on 11-of-25 shooting. He is shooting 37% from the field in the Finals after shooting 48.6% during the first three rounds.

    Towns was scoreless in the final period for the third straight game. He has attempted just six field goals in the fourth quarter in the Finals.

    “We have, what, 13 games in a row (and) 50 days of film to show what it looks like when we’re at our best?” Towns said. “We’ll get back to our fundamentals — what makes us great, what made us great — and get back to work tomorrow.”

    The Spurs regained their winning formula Monday as Wembanyama produced his first 30-point effort since May 24, when he had 33 points in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

    The 7-foot-4 superstar scored the first four points of the game via dunks and was 9-of-14 from inside the arc after going 13-of-27 on traditional field goals in Games 1 and 2. Wembanyama was 2-of-4 from 3-point land Monday after going 4-of-15 from long distance during the first two tilts.

    “The goal is always to go inside,” Wembanyama said. “The best shot in the game is an alley-oop — the most efficient shot.”

    Wembanyama thriving inside opened up the most balanced offense of the series for the Spurs, who put five other players in double figures. That included Stephon Castle, who scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half before collecting five of San Antonio’s final seven points of the game.

    The 115 points for the Spurs were their most since May 28, when San Antonio beat the Thunder 118-91 in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals

    “What we’ve built with this team is we have an identity that makes everybody dangerous,” Wembanyama said. “Sometimes it will pay off over a season, over a playoff series.”