The NBA has cleared Victor Wembanyama, choosing not to upgrade his foul on Jalen Brunson to a Flagrant 2, a call that would have automatically suspended him for Game 4. San Antonio breathed a collective sigh of relief after the league completed its review of a tense sequence from Game 3, where Wembanyama’s contact on New York’s Jalen Brunson drew immediate scrutiny.

The cost was real: one more Flagrant 2 and the Spurs’ franchise cornerstone sits out the most important game of his young playoff life. NBA head of officiating Monty McCutchen had already flagged the league’s intent postgame, telling ESPN that any retroactive upgrade would require “clear and conclusive” evidence. That bar, ultimately, was not met. ESPN insider Shams Charania delivered the news Spurs fans had been waiting for:

“No flagrant upgrade on the uncalled foul of Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama to Knicks’ Jalen Brunson on Monday night, a league spokesperson tells ESPN,” Charania wrote via his X handle.

Most importantly, the update also read, “Wembanyama will stay at two flagrant points in postseason.”

The Spurs already did a mammoth task of surviving Game 3 at MSG while down 0-2. They have to do it again, and the ruling allowed Victor Wembanyama to escape suspension and be the team’s biggest advantage for Game 4.

The math was simple and brutal: an upgrade to Flagrant 1 would have pushed him to three points, and four is the automatic threshold for a one-game suspension. One more foul of that nature in Game 4, and the Spurs’ franchise cornerstone sits out.

With the 7 ‘4 big man already accumulating 2 points against his name for the Naz Reid incident in the Western Conference semifinals, he was under the microscope.

The relief is especially pointed given what the Spurs just watched happen to one of their own. During the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City, teammate Mason Plumlee fouled Jarred McCain hard in the fourth quarter, a play the league retroactively upgraded to a flagrant after the game. San Antonio has now seen firsthand, twice in quick succession, how swiftly the league can move on these reviews. This time, it went their way.

The controversial sequence occurred in the first quarter when Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama battled for position at the top of the key. The replays showed JB appearing to grab Wemby’s jersey while the big man was shoving him down with his left arm placed on Brunson’s neck.

The Knicks’ star guard immediately confronted Wembanyama, but the refs were busy focusing on a play unfolding elsewhere. Now, with the league assessing no foul retroactively, what message does it send? 

With Victor Wembanyama surviving, did the league set the tone for the Finals?

The head of officiating, McCutchen’s latest comment regarding the review provided the necessary insight. It highlighted how the league currently views the physicality in the Finals series. 

“We want to make sure, though, that when we’re impacting the game as referees, that we aren’t chewing the game or stifling the game, but allowing enough physicality where players can really perform while not letting it go too far,” McCutchen said on his ESPN appearance.

Along with the statement, the latest update on the Wemby’s act defines something interesting. It’s the standard that we are about to witness in the leftover games of the season.

In short, there’s going to be a lot of physicality!

Jalen Brunson, on his part, already faced steady physicality in the past few games. Especially in the last game, apart from the Wemby shove, Stephon Castle crashed into him during a rebound attempt. It left him briefly shaken up after landing awkwardly on his back.

JB, speaking of the physicality, especially the Wemby issue, refrained from escalating it.

“Whatever you saw is what you saw,” he said at the presser.

Still, frustrating from the NY side is bottling up. On Monday night, coach Mike Brown publicly questioned the officials on the free-throw disparity in the second half. The Spurs received 24 while the Knicks received 8.

With the tension brewing and the league setting the tone for the series, Game 4 could be a dogfight.