For most of the night, the San Antonio Spurs looked like they were going to start open the 2026 NBA Finals with a statement win. Instead, they were left walking off the court in disbelief.
The New York Knicks closed the game on an 11-0 run over the final two minutes Wednesday night, turning a 14-point third quarter deficit into a 105-95 victory over the Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. With the win, New York stole homecourt and took a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven championship
series.
Additionally, San Antonio lost its first NBA Finals Game 1 in franchise history.
“I do know there was a combination of a few times defensive breakdowns, whether it was communication or rotations,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said of the Spurs losing their double-digit lead in the second half. “There was a few times it felt like we didn’t have an appropriate offensive possession.”
The Spurs appeared to have weathered every punch that New York threw at them in the first half, taking a seven point lead into the locker room. Then, they built a double-digit lead in the second half, fed off a roaring home crowd, and watched Victor Wembanyama begin to slowly find his rhythm late.
Then Jalen Brunson took over for the Knicks. He scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter as he powered his team to a stunning series opening win. Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 points and 12 rebounds, while OG Anunoby chipped in 17 points for New York, who returned to the Finals for the first time since 1999.
Wembanyama had a Finals debut to forget, finishing with 26 points while shooting just 6-for-21 from the floor. He added 12 rebounds in a losing effort.
“I’m going to figure it out. I was bad tonight,” Wembanayama said after the game. “It’s not more complicated than that.”
“We need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint,” Coach Johnson added. “They did a good job of obviously being physical and showing crowds. We need to do a better job of establishing that early on.”
With the Spurs’ star struggling offensively, the Spurs had to look elsewhere for points. Rookie Dylan Harper scored 16 points off the bench, Stephon Castle added 17, and Julian Champagnie provided an early spark with 15 points in the first half. De’Aaron Fox never found his offensive rhythm as he finished with just seven points on 3-for-13 shooting from the floor.
What began as a promising night for the Western Conference champions ended with a quiet arena and a celebration by the Knicks fans who made the trip to Texas as New York extended its playoff winning streak to 12 games.
The Spurs now face a familiar challenge: try to respond after a playoff loss. They dropped Game 1 of their second-round series against Minnesota before responding in Game 2 and were also down 2-1 and 3-2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals before a thrilling Game 7 win to reach these Finals. To avoid heading to New York in a deep 0-2 hole, they’ll need a similar response when the series resumes Friday night in San Antonio.
“We’ve been down in a series before,” Wembanyama said. “Never in the finals, obviously. But I’m not kicking myself about anything. I’m not worried in the slightest.”
Game 1 offered a painful reminder of how slim the margin for error can be on basketball’s biggest stage. For 46 minutes, the Spurs looked ready to take early control of the NBA Finals.
The final two minutes belonged to Brunson and the Knicks.
Game Notes
- As former coach Gregg Popovich used to say, the three-point shooting tells the story. The Spurs shot just 25 percent from deep compared to 30 percent for New York. That five percent difference matters in a close matchup like this.
- The Spurs won’t win a championship giving up a second half lead or Wembanyama, Fox, and Vassell shooting a combined 13-for-45 from the field. Luckily, I don’t see those guys having this bad of a game again in these Finals.
- As bad as the Spurs played, they were 2 minutes away from getting the win. That’s encouraging.
- Rebounding is going to be key in this series and in Game 1, the battle was even.
