Victor Wembanyama dropped 32 points and walked off the court without so much as a foul called against him, but one moment from Game 3 has the entire league talking, and it had nothing to do with his shot chart. With 4:44 left in the first quarter, as Jalen Brunson fought through a screen, Wembanyama grabbed him from behind and shoved him down by the back of his neck. The referees swallowed their whistles. The broadcast erupted. And by the next morning, the NBA’s own head of officiating was on television admitting the call was missed.

Brunson did have a fistful of Wemby’s jersey. That much is not disputed. But what followed was the kind of play that shifts the temperature of a series. MSG noticed. The league noticed. And now, one of Brunson’s teammates has a message for the 7-foot-4 Frenchman before Game 4.

Reacting to this, Jose Alvarado said, “I think that’s not basketball,” to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “That’s something that they gotta look at. But he got away with one. That’ll be the last one.”

Earlier this season, Alvarado, the then-New Orleans Pelicans star, had an altercation and landed a quick hook shot, catching the Suns center Mark Williams flush. Despite Williams being 7 feet 1 and 240 pounds, Alvarado was not afraid to stand up for himself.

It’s not an isolated incident either. Alvarado has built a reputation throughout his career as one of the league’s most tenacious defenders, a player who thrives on chaos and has never once been bullied by size or stature. At 6 feet tall on a good day, he has gone toe-to-toe with players far bigger than him more times than anyone can count, and he has never been the one to blink first.

With a history of not backing down against bigger and taller opponents, this serves as a warning shot for Wembanyama. Now, tensions will still be high after the Knicks’ 115-111 loss, since the foul call did not go their way.

ESPN broadcaster Richard Jefferson opined on air that the referees should have called a flagrant 1 on Wembanyama for his actions in that moment, and also mentioned how “Wemby’s laughing at it.”

Appearing on ESPN, Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s head of officiating, claimed that a foul should have been called on Wembanyama for pushing Brunson during Game 3.

“Well, most certainly I think we can all agree that a foul was missed on that play,” McCutchen said. “A big part of our job is on-ball, off-ball exchanges between referees. We did a poor job of that here, where we’ve got two people on ball, and we don’t see the screening action. Lots of fighting over screens throughout the game. And if we break down in our fundamentals in even the smallest amounts, we have the opportunity to miss a clear foul as we missed here.”

While Shams Charania reported, “Victor Wembanyama will not receive a flagrant foul for his shove”.

Wembanyama himself is no stranger to postseason physicality – he was assessed a flagrant two foul earlier in the playoffs for viciously elbowing Minnesota’s Naz Reid in the throat, showing a pattern of escalating aggression when challenged.

The unanimous DPOY has two penalty points, and if there had been a flagrant 1 call, it would have meant three points, as four points trigger an immediate one-game suspension. This would certainly deliver massive implications in the ongoing Finals series.

Karl Anthony Towns is not concerned about Victor Wembanyama’s physical attacks

The Knicks head coach called out the referees in a rant for the free throw disparity and how the game was officiated. “I never thought I’d be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” Mike Brown said. But that’s not the only stat favoring Victor Wembanyama and co.

The Knicks committed 13 compared to San Antonio’s 8. Those mistakes translated into a 21-7 Spurs advantage in points off turnovers, creating a 14-point swing in a game New York ultimately lost by four. This is exactly what KAT focused on after the loss.

“Turned the ball over, didn’t execute, didn’t do what got us 13 straight wins in a row. That’s how you lose a game. We didn’t do what we’ve been doing for 13 (games),” Towns said. “We decided to do something different. It ain’t gonna work. And throwing the ball away is a clear indication of how you’re gonna lose a game, especially in the playoffs.”

Apart from turnovers, the Knicks struggled from deep, going 2-for-14 in the final quarter, which contributed to their loss. Wemby seemed unbothered in the aftermath, telling reporters to “stick together, stay poised, and I mean just really play together,” adding that he felt the Spurs did that “for the majority of” the game.

That kind of composure from a 22-year-old in the Finals is its own warning. He is currently averaging 29 points in the series and will arrive at MSG on Wednesday with the quiet confidence of someone who already knows how to win on the road.

But Alvarado’s warning and KAT’s reflection should mean that the Knicks are better prepared not to lose at home again.