While Victor Wembanyama dropped a game-high 32 points, the New York Knicks fans were furious with his ‘dirty play’. The netizens called it out, so did the broadcaster, and now we have the ruling from the league. Amid the no-call foul towards Jalen Brunson, his teammate now sends a direct warning before Game 4 at MSG.

Brunson attempted to set a screen on the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter. JB did have a fistful of Wemby’s jersey, which led the French star to push himself away from the Knicks guard. But the 7-foot-4 center shoved Jalen Brunson down from the back of his neck, which raised a lot of eyebrows around the league. 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. With a history of not backing down against bigger and taller opponents, this serves as a warning shot for Wembanyama. Now the tensions will still be high after the 115-111 loss for the Knicks 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.”

But Shams Charania reported that “Victor Wembanyama will not receive a flagrant foul for his shove”. Some fans suggested it was the NBA protecting the Spurs star, especially since he was already assessed a flagrant two foul earlier in the postseason for viciously elbowing Minnesota forward Naz Reid’s throat. The unanimous DPOY has two penalty points, and if there would have 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 is actually why they lost the game. Wemby is currently averaging 29 points in the NBA Finals and would come with the energy to dominate on Thursday. But Alvarado’s warning and KAT’s reflection should mean that the Knicks are better prepared to not lose at home again.