NBA Finals: Jalen Brunson stars as New York Knicks beat San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 | Basketball news

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Highlights from the New York Knicks’ win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1

The New York Knicks extended their NBA playoff winning streak to a dozen games as Jalen Brunson starred in their Finals opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

Brunson scored 30 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

Great Britain’s Ozzy Anunoby also had 17 points as New York became the first of its kind to win against another team this season.

French phenom Victor Wembaniama had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but he went just 6 for 21 from the field in his Finals debut. Stephon Cassel scored 17, while Julian Champagne and Dylan Harper each scored 16 for the Spurs, who will have a chance to bounce back in Game 2 on Friday night in San Antonio as well.

Former San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was at the game, as he has been for every Finals game in Spurs history, though he watched from a suite and didn’t stop San Antonio on the sidelines. Spurs legends — David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen and more — were there, too.

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points

They all finally got to witness something new, as the Knicks — who finished the game on an 11-0 run — made some history. They became the first team to beat San Antonio in Game 1 of a title series – the Spurs were 6-0 in them – and also the first time the Spurs have trailed in the Finals before being eliminated.

The Knicks led 14-7 early, the Spurs answered with a 20-13 run to lead by 10, the second quarter saw six lead changes before the Knicks rallied and San Antonio took a 55-48 lead into the break.

San Antonio pushed the lead to 14 midway through the third quarter before the Knicks stormed back, ending the period on a 22-9 run to tie the game at 76 in the fourth.

New York’s lead was eight midway through the final. Wembaniama made a pair of free throws with 2:16 left to put San Antonio up 95-94, but Brunson made a corner 3 on the next possession to put the Knicks on top for good.

San Antonio’s run to never trail in the Finals has had some close calls over the years. The Spurs tied with New Jersey twice in the 2003 Finals, tied with Detroit twice in 2005, tied with Miami three times in 2013 — they lost that series in seven games, so they were eliminated when they finished — and then tied with the Heat once more in 2014.

If the Knicks are to win their first NBA crown in more than half a century, winning this opening game will undoubtedly prove to be an important step in that journey.

Wembanyama struggles to score: ‘I was bad tonight’

‘I was bad tonight’, said Wembaniama

Wembaniama was blessed by nuns before the game, received a loud ovation when the starters were announced, pumped his fist at the crowd a few times and generally seemed to enjoy his first taste of the NBA Finals.

Until the end – where the Knicks scored 11 straight points to win by 10.

The French star had 26 points in his Finals debut, though he had to work for them — missing 15 of his 21 shots from the field, some of them even hitting the top of the backboard, and seeing waves of New York defenders all game.

The worst was for Wembanyama, the game’s best defensive player, as the Knicks scored the game’s final 11 points and stole home-court advantage with a 105-95 win.

“I was bad tonight,” Wembaniama said. “It doesn’t get any more complicated than that.”

He said it calmly, without panicking, very matter-of-factly. The Spurs lost a game. The series is not over. He’s not worried yet.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson has backed Wembanyama to make a strong comeback

“I would say he definitely holds himself accountable,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I hope he learns a lot from tonight’s game and brings a better approach to Game 2.”

It has history for both Wembanyama and Spurs. They lost home-court advantage to Portland in Round 1 before winning the final three games of that series, lost home-court again to Minnesota in Round 2 after dropping Game 1, and didn’t even get home-court advantage against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals – a series in which San Antonio trailed 2–1 and 2–1 before 3.

Then again, they’re playing a Knicks team that hasn’t lost since April — and it’s now June. New York is 12-0 in its last dozen games and the Spurs now need to beat them in four of their next six to clinch the title.

“Obviously, we’ve been down a series before,” Wembanyama said. “Definitely never in the final. But I’m not really kicking myself about anything. I’m not worried in the slightest.”

It’s not a question of whether he can come back, or whether the final light shines too bright. Wembanayama has handled everything since entering the NBA three years ago — even the scare that came last year when deep vein thrombosis ended his season early — that would seem easy.

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama struggled in Game 1

Beating the Knicks won’t be easy but Wembanyama is expected to find a way to play better in Game 2 on Friday.

“Players come in every once in a while that, in addition to this incredible skill, love the promotional aspect of it and want to play that role for the league,” commissioner Adam Silver said of Wembaniama before the game. “We saw the role he played in the All-Stars, even leading other young players to say, let’s take this seriously, it’s really important.”

Even going back to those years when the NBA was waiting for Wembanyama, Silver never wanted to say whether he or the league had expectations for him. The argument is simple: there was and is considerable pressure on Wembanyama. Silver, to his credit, didn’t add to it.

New York Knicks guard Josh Hart steals the ball from Wembanyama

“He was extremely committed. He was someone who blew up the Internet in terms of his highlights even before he came to the NBA,” Silver said. “Did I have a specific expectation in terms of the number of years it would take him to get to the Finals? No. But I would say, trying to be an objective observer, he’s ahead of any timeline that people had in mind.”

It may be true. He is not leading in this series – and Friday’s test will be a big one.

The rest of the 2026 NBA Finals schedule

All dates and times are UK and Ireland

Game 2
June 6 – Knicks @ Spurs – 1.30am

Game 3
June 9 – Spurs @ Knicks – 1.30am

Game 4
11 June – Spurs @ Knicks – 1.30am

Game 5 (if needed)
June 14 – Knicks @ Spurs – 1.30am

Game 6 (if needed)
June 17 – Spurs @ Knicks – 1.30am

Game 7 (if necessary)
20 June – Knicks @ Spurs – 1.30am

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