NEW YORK — The New York Knicks force-fed their scorers all the way down to the last possession.With only the slightest sliver of a chance at victory, a team that hadn’t lost a game in a month and a half readied to inbound the basketball. Josh Hart stood on the right sideline, the Knicks down 4 points to the San Antonio Spurs. Only a few seconds remained in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. New York required a miracle to poof into existence. It did not.The team’s top dog, Jalen Brunson, began the play on the opposite side of the court, ready to cut through the paint and receive a pass, which could lead to a quick shot. The Knicks could not afford to waste time, but Brunson could not free himself. Draped all over him was Spurs guard Stephon Castle, the same man who ruined the Western Conference finals for two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.Brunson sprinted into the lane. Castle acted as if he were glued to his opponent. Brunson extended an arm, trying to shimmy away. Daylight did not even show between Brunson’s hand and Castle’s chest. Castle stood in his way, blocking the route toward the 3-point arc.As OG Anunoby cut in the opposite direction, a move that could have impeded the path of a worse defender than Castle, Brunson veered off course. Castle had shifted the Knicks’ geography — and he had caused an earthquake.Brunson wasn’t open. Anunoby’s back was to the play. Hart could not get the Knicks’ captain the basketball and panned his eyes upcourt, turning his head to Mikal Bridges, who was posting up outside the arc on the right wing. Bridges fielded a pass, spun around and heaved an errant 3-pointer.Just when it seemed the Knicks would never lose again, they did — for the first time in 45 days. Though Bridges’ clank to conclude the evening was hardly the reason for the defeat, the possession was exemplary of a rare issue for New York, one of the league’s cleverest and most unselfish squads.The Knicks locked in on specific targets Monday, when the Spurs shrank their series lead to 2-1. If the first option was cut off, they could not find a viable alternative. A dynamic half-court attack, one that thrives with a read-and-react philosophy, could not strike nearly as often as it normally does.“We were about as stagnant as I’ve seen us all year,” head coach Mike Brown said.Part of the reason for Brown’s evaluation was the turnovers. The Knicks coughed up the ball 13 times, sometimes unforced. If a pass sailed too high or too wide, San Antonio would dart the other way for a bucket.