Jalen Brunson Admits There Was Lack of Discipline From Knicks in Game 3 Loss to Spurs

The New York Knicks suffered a tough loss on Monday as the San Antonio Spurs claimed victory in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals. Apparently, one of the contributing factors to the Knicks' defeat was their foul trouble. And Jalen Brunson is well aware of that, pointing out how frequently being called for fouls has affected the team.

Out of the Spurs' 115 total points, 25 of their points came from free throws. San Antonio had a total of 32 free throw attempts, the most so far in the series. What that indicates is that the Knicks often managed to get into foul trouble.

"There's a way for us to do what we have to do," Brunson said in a press conference. "The things that we've done throughout these playoffs. They're just gameplay and discipline. I don't think the discipline we had in those situations was good enough. We've got to be disciplined in those moments."

Throughout Game 3, the Knicks committed a total of 23 fouls. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges faced the most significant defensive and officiating pressure for the Knicks, with both stars committing four fouls apiece on Monday.

Looking back at the first three games of the series, New York has committed exactly 23 fouls in each contest. The Knicks have accumulated 69 fouls so far, allowing the Spurs to score 64 points from the free-throw line.

Before Tuesday's interview, Brunson admitted that their foul trouble was what cost them the game on Monday.

"I think we turned the ball over a lot, first and foremost," Brunson said in the postgame presser. "But, also, we're fouling a lot. Putting (the Spurs) on the line about 30 times. ... They were capitalizing on those. We were definitely fouling a lot."

With all that in mind, the Knicks' goal right now could be to figure out how to maintain their defensive presence without sending the Spurs to the line often.

While Jalen Brunson believes that the New York Knicks lacked discipline in their defense in Game 3, it's safe to argue that Victor Wembanyama did the same thing.

NBA analyst believes Victor Wembanyama committed a flagrant foul on Jalen Brunson

During the opening period of Monday's game, Wembanyama shoved Brunson hard in the head, nearly knocking him down to the floor.

Many argue that Wembanyama was simply protecting himself from Brunson grabbing his jersey. However, there's no questioning the intensity of Wemby's physicality on that play. He could've seriously hurt the Knicks guard.

To everyone's surprise, the officials didn't call for any violation. The Knicks appealed for the league to review the play after their 115-111 defeat. However, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the no-call will not be upgraded to a regular foul or a flagrant foul.

NBA analyst Skip Bayless recently shared his thoughts on Wemby's questionable actions towards Brunson.

"I don’t want to hear about the officiating, but I do think even though Jalen Brunson got a fist full of jersey, you can’t throw him down and get away with that, you've got to, come on man, you've got to call that. It’s just a flagrant foul," Bayless said on former NBA star Gilbert Arenas' podcast, Gil's Arena.

Game 4 is set to take place in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. While the Knicks do have home-court advantage, the Spurs have proven that they can handle the pressure of performing under a hostile environment. The goal now for the Knicks is to ensure that Wembanyama doesn't catch fire while trying to avoid getting into foul trouble.