De’Aaron Fox said the Spurs must silence the Knicks’ Madison Square Garden crowd early in Game 3 as San Antonio tries to keep its NBA championship hopes alive after dropping the first two games at Frost Bank Center.
The San Antonio Spurs are heading into Madison Square Garden knowing they need something they haven’t been able to produce yet: at least one win on the road. After falling in both home games at Frost Bank Center—two straight losses to the red-hot New York Knicks—the Spurs arrive in a place where the energy is built to overwhelm visiting teams.
New York isn’t just loud in the Finals. The MSG crowd will be rocking for the Knicks’ NBA Finals run for the first time since 1999. with the team now two wins away from the franchise’s first NBA title since 1973. On paper, that’s a milestone. On the floor, it means every possession will feel like it’s happening inside a pressure chamber.
Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox put the challenge plainly as Game 3 approaches.
“You’re in New York. Even when they travel you hear New York fans,” Fox said. “It’s easier said than done, but try to take the crowd out of it as quickly as possible. … It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be hostile. Just try to not let the crowd get on their toes too much.”
Fox’s message lands because the environment isn’t hypothetical for this Knicks team. The Knicks are on a historic 13-game postseason win streak. and that momentum has carried them directly through Madison Square Garden: they have won five consecutive playoff games there. They also backed their way into this Finals through back-to-back series sweeps. handling the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. with their last loss coming in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Spurs, meanwhile, are trying to turn away from a home-court reality that has already flipped the series’ emotional balance. They dropped both games at Frost Bank Center—Game 1 and Game 2—before facing what Fox described as a crowd that can tug at the game’s tempo.
The sequence matters: the Spurs’ early failures at home set up the stakes for Game 3. and the Knicks’ postseason run sets the ceiling for what “hostile” can look like at MSG. If the Spurs can’t keep the crowd out of it early. their margin for error shrinks fast—especially with a franchise fan base that hasn’t watched a title in decades.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals will tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
San Antonio Spurs New York Knicks Madison Square Garden NBA Finals De'Aaron Fox Frost Bank Center Game 3 13-game postseason win streak
MSG is gonna be nuts, Spurs better not choke.
Why is he talking like they’re already losing lol. If the Knicks are loud then just call a timeout? Also 13-game streak sounds fake, playoffs always get weird.
So the Spurs just gotta “silence the crowd” like that’s a switch. I mean MSG is literally right there, it’s not like they can avoid the fans. Knicks in the Finals again and they haven’t had a title since 1973 right? I swear I heard they won in the 90s though.
Hostile crowd… okay but like, how do you keep the crowd from getting on their toes if half the arena is already standing when someone misses a shot. Spurs lost at home twice, so now it’s like “pressure chamber” whatever. Knicks been on a streak and it’s probably gonna carry them, I don’t see how Fox fixes the road thing by Friday or whatever. Anyway Go Knicks.