NBA ruling keeps Victor Wembanyama’s flagrant total unchanged entering Game 4

NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama will enter Game 4 at Madison Square Garden with his postseason flagrant-point total unchanged, leaving the Knicks to answer the NBA’s ruling on the floor, the only place left.

The league will not assess additional punishment to the San Antonio Spurs star for his first-quarter shove of Jalen Brunson during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, keeping Wembanyama at two flagrant points and available for Wednesday night’s matchup with the Knicks leading the series, 2-1.

The sequence occurred during live action in the Knicks’ 115-111 loss Monday night. A closer look at the replay shows Brunson appearing to have a hidden fistful of Wembanyama’s jersey while trying to pin him in place. Wembanyama reacted by swatting Brunson away, placing his hand near the back of Brunson’s neck and pushing him to the floor. Spurs guard Stephon Castle also caught contact in the face as Brunson hit the deck.

Officials didn’t call a foul on the play. After reviewing the sequence, the league chose not to upgrade it to a flagrant foul.

The ruling keeps Wembanyama at two flagrant foul points this postseason. Had the league upgraded the play to a Flagrant Foul Penalty 1, Wembanyama would’ve moved to three flagrant points, one shy of an automatic suspension. Had the league deemed the play a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2, Wembanyama would’ve moved to four flagrant points and triggered a one-game suspension for Game 4. Under NBA playoff rules, a player who surpasses three flagrant foul points must sit out the following game after picking up the fourth point.

Wembanyama picked up a Flagrant 2 foul in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals for his hard foul on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Naz Reid.

A Flagrant Foul Penalty 1 is defined as “unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent.” The league’s review process weighs the severity of the contact, whether the player was making a legitimate play on the ball, the nature of the follow-through and the potential for injury.

NBA Senior VP, Head of Development and Training Referee Operations Monty McCutchen acknowledged during an interview on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Tuesday that Wembanyama committed a foul but explained why the league’s review process doesn’t operate the same way as calling the play again from scratch.