nba finals NBA New York Knicks Charles Barkley’s pointed Knicks message after yet another slow NBA Finals start By Ryan Giancola Published June 9, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Every NBA Finals game so far has come down to the final few minutes.
But the start of the games couldn’t be more lopsided. The Spurs have come out of the tunnel as the stronger team, taking early leads in games.
While in San Antonio, the Knicks rallied back to steal wins, but their slow starts finally caught up with them in Game 3 as they lost 115-111 on Monday night.
While Knicks coach Mike Brown focused on the disparity of foul calls after Monday’s game, former NBA great Charles Barkley thinks Brown should be worried about finding the cause of the Knicks’ slow starts.
“Mike Brown got to get his team together and ask, ‘Why are we getting punched in the face first in every game?’” Barkley said on ESPN after the game. “Like, the Spurs have gotten off to great starts in every game.
“You come home, you got one of the craziest environments I’ve ever been in, and you still come out, and you get off to a bad start,” Barkley continued. “You can’t play from behind, even though they got lucky in the first two games and won. For some reason, they’re coming out not ready to play.”
The Knicks trailed 27-19 at the end of the first quarter in Game 1, 34-25 in Game 2 and 33-22 Monday.
The Knicks rallied in the third quarter in Game 1 and second quarter in Game 2 en route to their wins, and ultimately led at halftime Monday night.
San Antonio bounced back to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter in Game 3 and a slow start to the stanza doomed the Knicks, who did not score a point in the first three minutes, letting the Spurs jump out to a seven-point lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Now that the Knicks’ series lead has been cut to 2-1, Game 4 becomes pivotal for both teams.
The Spurs can even the series and change the entire dynamic of the NBA Finals, while the Knicks can move just one game away from winning their first title since 1973.
