Victor Wembanyama both drew a flagrant foul and was called for a flagrant foul while leading the San Antonio Spurs to a near blowout win at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Knicks, however, mounted a historic comeback in the second half.
Wembanyama dropped 24 points in the Spurs' 107-106 loss to the New York Knicks, which dropped them in to a 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals. The Spurs held a 27-point lead at halftime of the contest, which was the largest road halftime lead in NBA Finals history outside of the COVID-19 bubble season in 2020, and they led by 29 points at its peak. But the Knicks rallied all the way back.
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And because of Wembanyama's flagrant, he's now flirting with an automatic suspension. Wembanyama now has three flagrant foul points so far in the postseason, after he was ejected for an incident with Naz Reid earlier in the playoffs. If he picks up a fourth, he'll receive a one-game suspension. But with the Knicks on the cusp of securing what would be their first championship since 1973, it may not matter.
Wembanyama appeared to get the best of New York Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson early on Wednesday night.
Robinson, late in the first quarter, drilled Wembanyama with a forearm to his neck. That sent Wembanyama flying down to the ground and almost immediately drew a foul as the two teams were running back down the floor.
After a review, Robinson was hit with a Flagrant 1 foul. Wembanyama hit both free throws, and play then continued on normally.
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But right before the incident, Wembanyama was spotted clearly taunting Robinson after sneaking a layup past him on the other end. He started clapping quickly as he hit the floor after taking the shot to the face, too.
But early in the third quarter, with the Spurs in full control of the contest, Wembanyama found himself on the other side of things. He hit Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns in the head while on defense, which sent Towns down to the court.
Officials quickly called Wembanyama for the foul, which was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul.
While this was in different games, and the NBA admitted it missed the call, the flagrant fouls came after Wembanyama delivered a similar shot to Jalen Brunson's head in Game 3 of the series Monday night.
The NBA said after the game that a foul should have been called in the moment, but it was missed. The league opted not to upgrade it to a flagrant foul after a review. The Spurs ended up winning that contest by four points, which was their first win of the series.
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The Spurs dominated in the first quarter of Game 4 on Wednesday night. They jumped out to a 41-22 lead while shooting 65% from the field in the first 12 minutes of the contest. San Antonio ended up carrying a 27-point lead into the break at halftime, and hit an NBA Finals record 14 3-pointers in the first half.
Yet the Knicks came rallying all the way back, and grabbed the win after a ridiculous tip-in save from OG Anunoby in the final seconds. The comeback was the largest in NBA Finals history.
The Knicks will have a chance to close out the series on Saturday night in San Antonio.
