In 2021, Trae Young walked into Madison Square Garden as Public Enemy No. 1. Knicks fans showered him with profane chants, and by the end of the series, the Hawks guard was taking a bow at center court after eliminating New York from the playoffs. Becoming a villain at Madison Square Garden is usually reserved for players capable of ruining a championship dream. On Sunday night, Victor Wembanyama may have taken his first step toward joining that club.

Wembanyama wasted little time aggravating the Garden crowd. After a physical first-half sequence involving Jalen Brunson, chants of “F— you, Wemby” echoed through the arena as the Knicks briefly seized momentum. The Spurs star hardly looked rattled. With San Antonio facing a potential 3-0 series deficit after dropping the first two games, he responded with the composure of a player built for hostile environments.

The chants may have echoed around Madison Square Garden, but Wembanyama wasn’t ready to crown himself New York’s newest villain just yet. “I guess. I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though,” the Spurs superstar said with a smile.

The numbers suggested otherwise. Wembanyama responded with a game-high 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks, helping the Spurs secure an 115-111 victory and cut New York’s Finals lead to 2-1.

The comparison to Young may have sounded modest, but New York knows exactly how quickly Garden villains are created. Reggie Miller spent years tormenting Knicks fans. Michael Jordan dropped 55 points in the building just days after returning from retirement. Young’s playoff bow in 2021 remains one of the most infamous moments of the modern era. If Wembanyama somehow leads San Antonio back from a 2-0 deficit and denies New York its first championship since 1973, his name could end up alongside all of them.

The stat line was impressive, but it failed to capture when Wembanyama did his most important work. He scored the first four points of the night, hit a crucial third-quarter three-pointer that gave San Antonio a lead it would never relinquish, then delivered the defining sequence of the fourth quarter. First came an alley-oop finish from De’Aaron Fox. Moments later, he drew a foul through traffic and calmly knocked down two free throws to push the Spurs’ lead to eight. On the other end, his rim protection continued to erase mistakes and frustrate New York’s attack.

More importantly, Wembanyama kept the Finals alive. The Spurs were staring at a 3-0 deficit, a hole no team in NBA history has ever escaped. Instead, San Antonio heads into Game 4 with momentum and belief. But if a Spurs turnaround is on the cards, all eyes remain on their most experienced general.

De’Aaron Fox can change this series for the Spurs

Wembanyama delivered the headline performance, but the Spurs may have discovered something equally important in Game 3. When the game tightened in the fourth quarter, San Antonio repeatedly placed the ball in De’Aaron Fox’s hands. Despite playing through a hobbled ankle and struggling with his shot for stretches of the night, Fox delivered the mid-range jumper that effectively iced the game.

But the best thing the Spurs did was allow him to run the plays rather than Castle. Fox generated a team-high 8 assists. It’s no surprise that with Fox as the primary decision-maker, the Spurs enjoyed their best passing performance of the series.

“It’s not even a question. That’s his identity, you know. So, the trust is just complete. We know it’s as reliable as they get and experienced at that. So he brings everything we need,” Victor Wembanyama said about De’Aaron Fox’s performance. Fox also contributed two blocks, including one on Karl-Anthony Towns in the fourth quarter that helped preserve San Antonio’s lead.

The San Antonio Spurs had just eight turnovers in Game 3. They committed 29 turnovers across the first two games of the series, both losses at home. From then to now, having Fox on the ball has been the profound change the Spurs have made to get a foot back in this series. And NBA icon Charles Barkley is just as convinced as the Spurs that Fox will make the difference in this series.

“I’ve said all along, Ernie, I think the key to the Spurs is De’Aaron Fox. When he plays well, and he’s played very well the last few games and those have been the two closest games. And when they needed a basket, which we got made at them, we thought they should have gone to him in the last game… Fox made the plays down the stretch,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA.

Now, with another must-win game on the road, don’t expect the Spurs to change their style.