The day is here. Game One of the NBA Finals. Unless you came to this party reallllly late, you know the dates and lengths: 27 years since New York’s last Finals appearance, 53 years since Walt and the Gang beat the league. My inner junior sportswriter is compelled to reference those numbers at the outset of this preview, and that’s fine. They remain impressive, even after inserting them into dozens of articles over the past months.
I am moved, too, to give other details. For instance, the likely starters
(De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, and Victor Wembanyama for the home team; Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns for the visitors), and how the Knicks fared against San Antonio during the regular season—2-1, including the Emirates Cup win, which friggin counts!
The urge to write out per-game averages and shooting percentages is being resisted. You must have a good, general understanding of our team and the competition after three rounds of playoff basketball and endless media coverage. What is left to say? Wemby is tall and supernatural. Brunson is small and supernatural. The supporting cast is an impressive array of talented characters, with respected vets on our side and respected kids on theirs.
I feel obliged to mention that the Knicks are on a postseason rampage, winning 11 straight games and bludgeoning teams by more points than any other NBA team in playoff history. I should recommend that you ignore any biased hacks who dismiss the streak based on the quality of their opponents. The Knicks swept two postseason-qualifying NBA teams and would have taken the broom to the Hawks, too, if they had gotten their act together sooner.
Should I update you on Mitchell Robinson’s finger (you know as much as I do)? Or remind you how that kid from Brooklyn, Julian Champagnie, went nuclear on December 31 versus the Knicks, recording a career-high 36 points and setting a Spurs franchise record by drilling 11 three-pointers (on 17 attempts)? Or relay that a certain podcaster says the key to stopping Wemby is to tire him out by sprinting up and down the floor?
Maybe. But, friends, fans, and family, I am too deep in my feelings this morning to care about statistics.
Matthew Miranda (you know him, you love him) and I were recalling how the 1994 Finals gutted us. Turns out, I am still not healed from the loss to the Hakeem and the Rockets. When I sat with the memories last night, my stomach wrenched as if stabbed. An honest-to-goodness twist in the guts, after all these years! Memory lane is a thorny path, indeed.
June of ‘94 was a momentous month. I graduated from high school, put plans in place for summer and fall, and my beloved basketball team was in the NBA Finals. Life was looking pretty, pretty good. Then the Knicks lost Game Seven, and it became apparent that everything (life, plans, expectations) might not go so smoothly after all.
It didn’t, and it did. I survived college. Moved to Binghamton for a job and wound up with a family and a drinking problem. Got sober. Made friends. Did a ton of cool stuff. Remarried and expanded the family. Lost too many friends to count. Watched my babies become men. Etcetera. The details differ, but we each have a version of the highs and the lows. Along the way, I stuck with my Knicks. I groaned my way through so many lame seasons and players and coaches, all the while expecting / hoping / praying for the Knicks to win a championship in my lifetime. They came close in 1999 before falling to a different team from Texas, the Spurs. That makes the current Finals quite a special rematch, no? Almost as if divinely designed.
During the title drought, I assume that many of you thought, like me, They couldn’t go more than 35 years without a ring, right? Not 40, right? Not 50—right??? Tonight, as the Finals begin, we will each bring our own meanings, feelings, and history as fans to the game. For me, there’s a chance to heal a wound that opened in 1994. I am deeply grateful—and so damned lucky—to share the moment with all of you, who can understand. What a blessed life it has turned out to be.
Go Knicks!
Game Details
Who: New York Knicks (0-0) at San Antonio Spurs (0-0)
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Place: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
TV: ABC
Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky
