ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the Questionable Officiating in Spurs-Knicks Game 3

Brian Windhorst sees a game refereed loosely both ways, then suddenly called tight, and a Knicks coach making a calculated political play out of it. Asked directly by Rich about the questionable officiating in Spurs-Knicks Game 3, the ESPN insider did not hand the Knicks a clean grievance. He gave a more complicated read.

The number that fuels the fans is real. "In the second half the free throws were 24 to eight," Windhorst said, and that disparity "infuriated the fans." He was in the concourse after the game and on social, and the foul gap was the only topic.

But Windhorst separated the noise from the call. He pointed to two factors. The first was physicality. "This series has been played at very high physicality," he said, and the officials were "basically letting it go" both directions. He described "hand-to-hand combats throughout the whole first half" that could have been whistled on either team. The Spurs were the more aggressive team, in his view, and clearly targeting one man. "The Spurs specifically looked like they were targeting Brunson, no doubt in my mind."

He cited the missed call everyone will replay, Victor Wembanyama shoving down Jalen Brunson on a non-call he thought was at least review-worthy. But ten feet away, he noted, "Karl Towns is getting manhandled by Keldon Johnson." Even Mike Breen, who rarely touches officiating, said on the broadcast the referees "might have to start calling some more fouls here." Windhorst trusts that read: "Breen knows the game and can feel the game."

The second factor was the swing. Once officials started calling it tight, the Knicks felt it more, partly because they fouled in quick bursts and reached the bonus fast. He flagged that the Knicks were "called for three fouls in the first 65 seconds of the fourth quarter."

As for Mike Brown's pointed postgame complaint, Windhorst read it as strategy, not grievance. The Knicks players were not complaining, he said. Brown was. Having covered Brown in the playoffs for over 20 years, Windhorst sees him channeling Rick Carlisle, "historically great at working the officials." He recalled Brown taking the opposite tack in 2007, a "no excuse team" line, then winning four straight. "Maybe it works, Rich, or maybe it doesn't, but historically there have been times when it works," Windhorst said. "It was a strategic decision and it could have been a smart decision."

He also backed a fix Rich raised: teams that win challenges shouldn't run out of them. "If you get them right, you shouldn't lose the right to continue to challenge." The irony, he noted, is that the review timeouts may have helped the Spurs by giving Wembanyama built-in rest during a fourth quarter he played in full.