SPURS GET ONE BACK

NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama has his first NBA Finals win — and the New York Knicks suddenly have a lot of work left to end their 53-year championship drought.

Wembanyama had 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists, carrying the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-111 victory on Monday night that cut the Knicks’ lead to 2-1.

San Antonio is trying to make a first-of-its-kind NBA Finals comeback, and the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, with his array of skills, makes anything look possible.

“I’m sure Victor has numerous sources of motivation,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I don’t think any of us are surprised or expect anything different than a strong performance.”

The Spurs handed the Knicks their first loss in 46 days and potentially salvaged their season in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd that included President Donald Trump.

The Knicks had their 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA postseason history, snapped and missed a chance to move to the brink of their first championship since 1973.

Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox hit big shots late as the Spurs avoided falling into a 3-0 hole, which no NBA team has escaped. Now they can tie the series Wednesday night and are guaranteed another game at home, with Game 5 scheduled for Saturday.

Castle finished with 23 points as the Spurs got started in their quest to become the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two at home.

Jalen Brunson scored 32 points and OG Anunoby had 28 for the Knicks, who lost for the first time since April 23 in Game 3 of their first-round series against Atlanta.

Fans who endured long lines to get in with the extra security measures in place — and some who paid five-figure sums for the chance to do so — were treated to a back-and-forth game in the NBA Finals’ first trip to Madison Square Garden since 1999.

Wembanyama, whose turnover late in Game 2 ended the Spurs’ hopes, didn’t make many mistakes Monday. He had 10 points in the final quarter, helping the Spurs build just enough of a cushion to withstand another Brunson comeback attempt.

Minutes after Trump was loudly booed while shown during the national anthem, the Spurs got off to an ideal start. Wembanyama dunked for their first two baskets and they had a double-digit lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game. San Antonio made nine of its first 11 shots, with the Knicks and their fans frustrated by the referees and the home team’s sloppy play, and led 33-22 after one.

The Garden crowd didn’t really start to rock until Anunoby’s 3-pointer capped an 11-2 surge that cut it to 40-38. The Knicks got their first lead of the night on Brunson’s 26-footer as part of a big burst to finish the half. New York led 64-57 at the break.

But the Spurs went back ahead in the third quarter and led 111-104 on Castle’s 3-pointer with 1:53 to play. Castle then closed the scoring with two free throws with 6.8 seconds left after Anunoby’s 3-pointer cut it to two.

The Knicks had piled up massive scoring margins while romping through the Eastern Conference playoffs, then were just good enough in the two games in San Antonio. This time, a horrible start to the fourth quarter put them too far behind.

A star-studded crowd that included Derek Jeter and Eli Manning, champions of New York teams in other sports, was hoping to see the Knicks move closer to what would be their third title. But with Karl-Anthony Towns limited to 11 points and Mikal Bridges saddled with foul trouble, a team that had been so potent in the postseason struggled for long stretches.

YANKEES SINK GUARDS

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-5 on Monday night.

Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan McMahon homered for the Yankees, who won for the first time in four extra-inning games this season.

Angel Martínez connected for a two-run homer in the fifth to give the Guardians a 5-4 lead before Goldschmidt’s grounder in the eighth drove in Trent Grisham to tie it.

With Ali Sánchez as the automatic runner in the 10th, Ben Rice was intentionally walked with one out. Max Schuemann challenged a called strike three on a full count and got it overturned to ball four, loading the bases. The Guardians pulled their infield in, but Bellinger’s base hit to left field off Shawn Armstrong (1-1) drove in Sánchez and Rice.

David Bednar (2-3), the seventh Yankees pitcher, struck out three in 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win. He retired five of the six batters he faced.

Martínez was mired in an 8-for-61 slump before his two-run shot to right-center off Paul Blackburn in the fifth. It was Martínez’s first homer since May 17 against Cincinnati.

After Rice drew a walk in the first, Goldschmidt connected on a cutter from starter Gavin Williams and drove it into the left-field bleachers. Goldschmidt has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, batting .314 (16 for 51) with three homers and 13 RBIs during that span

McMahon led off the fifth with a shot to left on a low curveball to put the Yankees up 4-3.

New York had runners at the corners with one out in the eighth when Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio made a diving stop on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s hard-hit grounder up the middle. Rocchio touched second base with his glove, pivoted and then threw out Chisholm at first from his right knee to complete the double play.

FORMER BUCKEYE PLEADS NOT GUILTY

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos pass rusher and former Ohio State Buckeye Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty Monday in a domestic violence case stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend.

Cooper will have a motions hearing in a Douglas County courtroom on July 6 with the potential for a jury trial on July 22, just before the Broncos report for training camp.

Cooper’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said the defense doesn’t plan to file a motion to dismiss the charges and requested a trial date as soon as possible so that Cooper wouldn’t have to miss any training camp workouts.

Cooper, 28, and his girlfriend were arrested Thursday night by Parker police and both were booked into jail early Friday morning, according to Douglas County jail records. Cooper was held on suspicion of criminal mischief with a domestic violence enhancer. His girlfriend was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence and petty criminal mischief.

The arrests followed an argument and physical confrontation between Cooper and his girlfriend over cell phones that were damaged in the scuffle after she accused him of infidelity, according to a police affidavit.

CLARK SAVES FEVER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Caitlin Clark was alone with the ball, right in the front of the logo with the game on the line.

As frustrating as this season has been at times for her and the Indiana Fever, this was Clark’s comfort zone — and the shot hit nothing but net.

Clark’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining gave Indiana a 78-76 victory over the Washington Mystics on Monday night — and gave the 24-year-old star a signature moment following a rocky stretch at the start of her third season.

“I think sometimes we take great players, and certainly generational talent, for granted,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “What she did was incredible for us. She’s going to have many more moments like that. I know she is. And we needed this one tonight.”

Indiana was just 5-5 entering the game. Clark was filling up the stat sheet but had not been shooting the ball well. As always, she’s been under a microscope, having to answer for a feisty sideline exchange with White and receiving criticism by national columnists for her occasional histrionics on the court.

The online conversation around her feels almost tribal at times, but in front of a packed crowd at Washington’s CareFirst Arena, she contributed to another electric atmosphere. White was asked if this game-winning 3 might quiet the “noise” around Clark, but that may be impossible.

“I don’t know that the noise is ever going to be quiet,” White said. “This is what Caitlin does. She makes big shots, and she has big moments.”

After scoring 10 points in the first quarter, Clark was derailed for a bit because of foul trouble. Her four-point play in the third pushed Indiana’s lead to 17, but the Mystics rallied.

Down by one with 36 seconds left, Clark missed two straight free throws, but before another round of discourse could even get started, Washington turned the ball over and Clark patiently found Kelsey Mitchell in transition for a layup to give the Fever the lead.

Then Sonia Citron made two free throws with 4.3 seconds to play, putting the Mystics up 76-75. Indiana called timeout, and Sophie Cunningham’s inbound pass sailed across the court toward Clark, who was all alone after Washington’s Cotie McMahon tried for the steal and missed. It was perhaps the biggest shot of her WNBA career.

“You better make this,” Clark said she was thinking at the time. “Because I missed my free throws. All those plays are plays we work on after practice, so everybody knows their role, everybody knows what they’re going to do.

“Cotie almost got a fingertip on it,” Clark added. “It kind of worked out perfectly that she went for the steal. Honestly probably the most wide-open shot I had all night. My hands got a little clammy, but still went in, I guess.”

Teammate Lexie Hull was in the opposite corner, pretty open in her own right, but it was no surprise the ball went to Clark.

“From my view, I thought Cotie was going to get it,” Hull said. “Then it slipped through, and still holding my breath. I have complete confidence that it’s going to go in, but to see it go in and put us in the lead, that was one of the biggest moments we’ve had this season, so very excited.

“And just for Caitlin, very happy to see it go through for her.”