Hoops Tonight - GAME 3 REACTIONS: Wemby & Spurs BIG win vs Edwards & Wolves + Brunson, Knicks take 3-0 lead vs 76ers

Welcome to Hoops Tonight on The Volume—happy Friday. We’ve got San Antonio–Minnesota Game 3, the Knicks taking a three to zero lead in Philly, and then your questions.

Victor Wembanyama just stamped his first true playoff snapshot: on the road, seventh postseason game, he erased the rim to start and then solved every coverage late, from slips and seals to flares, trail threes, and put-backs. Minnesota played well and hit shots, but every surge met a Victor answer, and it felt like he took control of the series—Wolves still live, yet this has Spurs in six written on it.

Big-picture, San Antonio’s edge over OKC is ball-handling depth and variety—multiple guards who can drive, pass, and finish plus Victor as a different kind of initiator—and he can drag games into the mud. The Thunder lean more on their top creators; the chess piece is whether Chet can pull Victor away from the rim often enough to unlock space.

Carryovers from Game 2 held: heavy pressure on Minnesota’s star, San Antonio still running, and a brutally physical tone the officials mostly let breathe. Even with threes and multiple Wolves in double figures, Victor’s two-way control was the separator.

In Philly, the Sixers opened hot behind elite early shot-making, but New York’s bench steadied it and their scheme went to work—Brunson drew two, and Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet sprinted, cut, and flashed into wide-open windows while a hobbled Embiid couldn’t disrupt hedges. The Knicks have now stacked wins, OG’s hamstring sounds minor, Shamet swung minutes, and they’re up three to zero on rhythm and pace.

On Tyrese Maxey, the plan was to flatten his turns off screens; he made the right reads, but teammates didn’t cash out, and New York deserves credit for clean execution.

Embiid’s health is the heartbreak—when right he’s a problem, but he’s rarely at full burst in May. Paul George’s shot-making has been a joy, yet living on tough pull-ups makes you streaky compared to off-ball craftsmen who manufacture cleaner looks.

Should OKC tweak the offense to get Shai more direct chances against those doubles, or is this playing into the defense’s hands?

The process was strong—they created a bunch of unguarded catch-and-shoots and eventually started dropping them—so there isn’t much to fix in blowout wins. Shai’s best counters are early attacks and quick rips off the catch before the second defender arrives, and he’s finding those.

Should the Spurs or Wolves copy that doubling plan on Shai, or trust their athletes and guard it straight?

You can’t routinely abandon OKC’s shooters anymore. San Antonio actually has the perimeter size plus Victor’s rim behind it to play it cleaner, and the next round is a spacing duel—Chet at five to stretch Victor out versus Victor living at the rim; there’s even a little mind game brewing between those two.

Is the Jalen Brown noise anything like Kobe–Shaq?

Not close—most of it’s manufactured; they may both think they’re the guy, but they play to win, and a title quiets whatever ego talk is left.

What can the league do about wild officiating swings from game to game?

Call real contact and stop rewarding theatrics—let normal hand-fighting and jockeying go, but whistle holds, tackles, and those off-ball wrestling matches. Free-throw totals aren’t the story; rewarding non-basketball maneuvers in a super-physical game is what breaks the product.

With how dominant Victor’s been, why not call him the best player right now?

Peaks and dependability aren’t the same—tonight was a towering peak, but the belt goes to who sustains elite impact over rounds. That’s why the most consistent superstar in the field stays near the top until someone matches nightly output and availability.

Does the Knicks’ connectedness and Cat-as-hub look change your view of them versus OKC if both advance?

I’ve moved them up—their off-ball flow around Brunson gives them a path against OKC’s pressure; I’d still lean Thunder, but I’m done putting ceilings on this Knicks team.

That’s the show—thanks for rocking with us, and we’ll be back tomorrow after Lakers–Thunder Game 3.