By Daniel Feuerstein | San Antonio, TX | June 3rd, 2026
The 2026 NBA Finals began at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, as the New York Knicks faced the Spurs in their building. Unlike the last eight games, where the Knicks were able to handle their last two opponents, this was the start of round one of a boxing match against Victor Wembanyama and his teammates. This game had plenty of twists and turns, but once the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks came out victorious and continued their winning ways with their 12th consecutive win in the playoffs, by the final score of 105 to 95
The crowd in San Antonio was loud and rabid, but the Knicks had their own fans as well to cheer them on. It was a strong start till the Spurs took the game over inside the first half. They did cut the deficit down towards tying the game, but couldn’t overtake the Spurs until late in the fourth quarter, and within the final moments of the game, held on for good and put the clamps on the Spurs to take game one. Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 30 points and is now second on the Knicks during the playoffs with 25 points or more in 30 games, behind Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, who has 43 games.
Karl Anthony Towns earned a double-double and was second on the Knicks in scoring with 18 points and 12 rebounds. O.G. Anunoby was third on the Knicks with 17 points. , with Landry Shamet coming off the bench with 13 points. Victor Wanbanyama was the leading scorer for the Sprus with a double-double, scoring 26 points and 12 rebounds. Stephon Castle was second on the Spurs, scoring 17 points, and Julian Champagnie also had a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds. Dylan Harper came off the bench with 16 points. This was the eighth game of this year’s playoffs, the Knicks held their opponents below 100 points, and 70% of the teams that win game one of the NBA Finals win the title.
After the Knicks won the game, they tied the 1999 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs for the 12th consecutive playoff winning streak. That team defeated the Ewing-less Knicks in five games to win the title on the Madison Square Garden Court.
First Half: The Knicks started well, till the Spurs turned it around
The Knicks won the opening tip, and Jalen Brunson nailed a three-pointer to start the game. The visitors had a 14-7 lead till the Spurs turned it around and went on a 20-9 run. After several misses from behind the three-point line, the Spurs finally found their rhythm and started draining threes from distance. Dylan Harper, off the bench, went three for three. Jalen Brunson took a shot to his right knee and was limping around. He had to come off and went to the locker room. While he did return, he hasn’t returned to the floor. The Knicks started to chip away at the deficit and got within three points of the lead.
At 7:44 of the second quarter, Brunson came back on the floor. Mitchell Robinson came on to the floor and jammed it down and got the foul with his right pinky finger wearing the special glove, cutting the deficit to one. The Spurs converted several buckets to re-extend the lead by five, and on his layup, Brunson got stepped on his left ankle as he was down on the ground. He yelled at the referees for a foul, but none came. At 4:20 of the second quarter, Brunson lays it in to regain the lead at 38-37. Another three from Julian Champagnie to get a four-point lead. Then the Spurs ended the half up by seven.
“It’s a good win by our guys. We felt we didn’t play well. I’m sure San Antonio felt that they didn’t play well. Didn’t play well, either. And obviously it’s good to learn from, you know, especially when you didn’t feel like you played well, it’s good to learn from a win. And, you know, in the first half, they kicked our behind in transition. They got out the way we calculated. They had 24 fast break points in the first half. Half of them had nine fast break points, so we did a better job of getting back. We’ve got to get back, we’ve got a load. We can’t buddy up and run because they have quick athletic players. Then you have to win by coming, and he could shoot the three or get to the rim.
You know, we were more efficient ourselves in transition. In the second half, we’ve got to keep trying to push the pace because these guys are too good to go against their set defense all the time. You know, our ability to crash and not only crash, but more importantly, turn the offensive rebounds into second-chance points. was huge. You know, getting 23 second-chance points compared to their 14 was big, especially with the amount of free throws that they had compared to ours. We had to find other ways to score. Did a nice job taking care of the basketball in the second half,” said Mike Brown.
Second Half: The Spurs started to separate, but the Knicks came back and took it in the end.
The Spurs started the third quarter by hitting multiple buckets, and the Knicks were missing shots. But towards the middle of the third, the Knicks started to make a run and converted several buckets, and converted two consecutive and one’s after the foul was called. They chipped away a 14-point deficit and got it to six during a 9-0 run. The Knicks tied the score at 71 when Brunson hit a 15 ft jump shot. Then Deuce McBride, on the final shot of the third quarter, hits a big three-pointer, while banking it off the backboard and in to make it all even at 76 points.
Start of the fourth quarter, and an inbound pass at the end of the floor as Landry Shamet received a bounce pass and layed it in off the glass for the early lead. O.G. Anunoby hit two consecutive three-pointers for a six-point lead. The Spurs started to turn it on and tied the game at 86, but on the tying basket, it looked as if McBride was fouled before the ball went in. Mike Brown called a timeout and looked like he was arguing with the referee on that call. After the timeout, Brunson takes it to the hoop for the layup. Then Brunson went to work, taking care of the ball and converting scoop layups. The Spurs fought back from a seven-point deficit and took the lead at the free-throw line from Wembayana with 2:16 left.
The Knicks retook the lead as Brunson once again nailed a three-pointer after a miss from O.G. Anunoby. After stealing the ball, the Knicks took it all the way down to the front court, and Josh Hart held the ball to waste some clock, gave the ball back to Brunson, and attacked the hoop and hit the pull-up jumper. Anunoby was fouled in the backcourt and converted both free throws as the Knicks were in the penalty. With 20.6 seconds left, the Knicks had the ball, and Anunoby was fouled again. He hit both free throws, and the Knicks finished with a ten-point lead to win Game one.
KEY STATS:
NEW YORK: 39 FOR 94 FG’S, 11 FOR 36 3PTS, 16 FOR 18 FT’S
SAN ANTONIO: 32 FOR 89 FG’S, 11 FOR 43 3PTS, 20 FOR 25 FT’S
LARGEST LEAD: SPURS HAD A 14-POINT LEAD IN THE THIRD QUARTER
MOST POINTS: KNICKS WITH 29 POINTS IN BOTH THE SECOND AND FOURTH QUARTERS
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