Knicks chase first title since 1973 as Victor Wembanyama, Spurs stand in their way
Mike Brown can love the San Antonio Spurs before tipoff and after the final horn.
For the 48 minutes in between, the Knicks coach has a simpler plan.
“They definitely want to beat me, and I want to kick their ass,” Brown said when asked about separating his connections with the Spurs organization and De’Aaron Fox ahead of the NBA Finals. “I love them and you can always love them before and after.”
There’s the emotional center of this Knicks-Spurs Finals, stripped of ceremony. Respect everywhere. History everywhere. Familiar faces everywhere. Then the ball goes up Wednesday night in San Antonio, and sentiment gets pushed aside.
The Knicks haven’t been here since 1999, when Tim Duncan and the Spurs ended their improbable Finals run. They haven’t won it all since 1973, when Walt Frazier, Willis Reed and those old championship Knicks created a standard no team in orange and blue has touched since.
Now Jalen Brunson has carried the franchise back to the sport’s final stage, with a roster peaking at the perfect time and a city ready to spill into the streets. In their way stands Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 force already pulling San Antonio into its next era, already carrying the weight of a player expected to shape the league for years.
The Spurs are back in the Finals for the first time since 2014, and they didn’t sneak here. They survived the seven-game Western Conference finals against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, ending their bid to become the first repeat champion since Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors.
The Knicks arrive differently. They’ve won 11 straight games, tore through the Eastern Conference by an average of 23.8 points and carry a plus-262 differential over the streak. According to ESPN, it’s the best 11-game stretch in NBA history across the regular season and playoffs. Their offense posted a 123.3 rating during the East bracket. Their defense has been connected, sharp and physical.
One team looks like the future arriving early. The other looks like a franchise ready for the moment.
Schedule, odds
Game 1 is Wednesday in San Antonio. Game 2 is Friday. The series shifts to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 on June 8 and June 10. If necessary, Game 5 is June 13 in San Antonio, Game 6 is June 16 in Manhattan and Game 7 is June 19 in San Antonio.
DraftKings opened San Antonio as a -220 favorite, with the Knicks at +180 despite their 11-game winning streak and covers in 10 of their last 11 games. New York is also a 4.5-point underdog in Game 1.
The Knicks enter with nine days off. The Spurs enter after surviving seven games against Oklahoma City.
The odds say Spurs. The Knicks’ last month says something else.
Advantage, Knicks
The Knicks have spent the week trying to keep themselves from treating the Finals as something larger than the habits built along the way.
“When you’re building championship habits, it’s very boring and it’s very meticulous,” Josh Hart said. “It’s frustrating at times, but it never changes. We continue to do what we do, continue to build those habits. Nothing changes from the first round of the playoffs to the Finals. We know we got to be locked-in, focused, have attention to detail, physicality, a sense of desperation. It’s been like that for every single series, every single game of these playoffs and it doesn’t change now that we’re in the Finals.”
The Knicks can win because they’ve become more than Brunson’s late-game shot-making, even if every fourth quarter still runs through him.
Mikal Bridges is shooting nearly 60% from the field in the playoffs after early first-round calls for his benching. OG Anunoby is scoring nearly 20 points per game with elite efficiency. Karl-Anthony Towns’ shooting and passing give the Knicks a frontcourt counter few teams can handle.
Brunson averaged 26 points in three games against the Spurs this season, and the Knicks’ offense hummed in those matchups. In the playoffs, he’s averaging 26.9 points and 6.6 assists in 36.1 minutes with a 29.8% usage rate.
The Knicks also have a defensive model from March 1, when they forced 21 turnovers and held San Antonio to 41% shooting at Madison Square Garden. Bridges had 25 points, five steals and five rebounds in the win, a reminder of how disruptive the Knicks can be when their wing defenders press and shrink passing lanes.
The Spurs ranked third in defensive efficiency during the regular season, but the Knicks posted a 123.0 offensive rating in two regular-season meetings against San Antonio and also torched the Spurs in the NBA Cup championship, which doesn’t count in the standings.
It’s not complicated. The Knicks need Brunson to win late, Towns to pull Wembanyama away from the rim, Bridges and Anunoby to pressure the Spurs’ ball handlers and Hart to turn loose balls into extra possessions.
Advantage, Spurs
San Antonio’s case starts and ends with Wembanyama.
He averaged 24.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in three meetings with the Knicks this season, including the NBA Cup final. He just authored a 41-point, 24-rebound performance in Game 1 against Oklahoma City.
Wembanyama is also blocking 3.5 shots per game in the playoffs. He changes possessions before he touches the ball. Drivers feel him early. Guards think twice. Bigs rush. Entire offensive trips can literally bend around his reach.
Hart, never one to hide from a line, smiled at the prospect of Wembanyama spending time on him.
“The only unanimous defensive player of the year is guarding me,” Hart said. “That’s a good sign for me, right? It means I’m a pretty good basketball player.”
Wembanyama can erase good offense and punish bad spacing. Against Oklahoma City, even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to account for him near the rim.
The Spurs also have more than one way to stress the Knicks. Fox brings speed and experience. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper give San Antonio young guards who move like veterans already. Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes stretch the floor. Keldon Johnson just won Sixth Man of the Year. The Spurs ranked top three in 2-point field -goal percentage and rebounding, and they thrive when turnovers become open-court opportunities.
Deuce McBride sees the challenge coming from San Antonio’s backcourt.
“They’re young, they have that mentality of just go out there and scrap and make it a tough game,” McBride said. “I love that.”
The Spurs were picking second in the NBA draft less than a year ago, but Wembanyama has moved the timeline forward. San Antonio is four wins from a championship before the end of his rookie contract.
Mitch Johnson’s group wasn’t supposed to be this ready, but they’ve kept answering each challenge with another win.
“I want to win so badly,” Wembanyama said. “It’s like my life depends on it.”
Matchup to watch
Castle will likely see plenty of Brunson after defending Gilgeous-Alexander about as well as anyone could in the Western Conference finals. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 41% in that series, the second-worst mark of any playoff series in his career.
Brunson presents a different problem. He doesn’t need to fly downhill to control a possession. He can win with footwork, pace, strength, pivots and patience. He can hold the ball until a defender gives him one shoulder. He can turn a screen into a foul, a floater, a pull-up or a pass to the weak side.
There may not be an easy defender for Brunson to hunt in this series. Castle has the size. Fox has the speed. Wembanyama waits behind the play. Brunson still gives the Knicks their safest answer when the game slows down. The Knicks’ offense has been brilliant during this run, but the Finals usually ask for one player to turn a stalled possession into points.
For the Knicks, that player is still Brunson.
The Wembanyama problem
The Knicks don’t have to live at the rim. That gives them a better chance than most against Wembanyama.
Towns can pull him away from the basket. Brunson can work the middle of the floor. Anunoby and Bridges can cut, shoot and punish gaps. Hart can rebound, run and create extra possessions without needing plays called for him.
Mitchell Robinson’s status could shape the frontcourt plan. Brown said Robinson did some “individual stuff” with “something” on his hand at Sunday’s practice, but there was no update on his Game 1 status. Brown added the medical staff needs to sign off before Robinson can “go out there.”
Robinson’s rim protection, rebounding and length would give the Knicks another body to throw at Wembanyama. His availability could decide how much the Knicks can lean into their frontcourt depth, especially with Towns needed as both scorer and spacer.
Brown understands San Antonio’s standard better than most. He knows Gregg Popovich’s influence stretches far beyond banners and playoff series.
“The job that he’s done, not only on the court with that team or that organization, but off the court, too, is going to be imprinted as long as the game of basketball exists,” Brown said.
This series is heavy with inheritance. The Spurs built one dynasty around Duncan and now chase another with Wembanyama. The Knicks, after decades of false starts, have found a group with enough skill, stubbornness and chemistry to make the Garden believe again.