Game 1 between the Knicks and Spurs lived up to its billing with starts Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama giving their respective teams late leads in the fourth quarter.
But it was Brunson’s heroics and clutch play that allowed New York to come away with the first win of the 2026 NBA Finals.
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Brunson scored a game-high 30 points on 12 of 31 shooting with three rebounds and two assists, but his performance in the fourth quarter will go down in Knicks history. The Knicks captain scored 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, leading New York’s 11-0 run to end the game.
While the Knicks fans in attendance in San Antonio and those watching at home were in awe, the Spurs were not surprised by Brunson’s efforts.
“He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles. Shoots contested shots without being sped up,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said of Brunson after the game. “He’s a phenomenal player and we just have to keep making him work.
“He had a phenomenal game. He got going and got a few in a row, but 30 points on 31 shots, is something you probably want to keep making him work for those points. Probably some of the other stuff that we can control, instead of him making or missing shots.”
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Wembanyama, the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, was asked how the team can defend Brunson better moving forward. The Spurs big man didn’t have an answer, but knew they have time to come up with a gameplan.
“He’s an elite player and we don’t have many more chances,” Wembanyama said. “It’s a first-to-four series. So we’re going to have time to work on it.”
A common talking point before the NBA Finals started was whether the Spurs would be fatigued after a grueling seven-game series with the Thunder. On the opposite end, the Knicks, after sweeping the Cavaliers in the ECF, were off for more than a week.
The fourth quarter saw the Spurs turn the ball over five times — the Knicks had zero turnovers in the final frame — and Wembanyama, in particular, looked winded at points, but San Antonio downplayed that narrative. Instead, they pointed to their own execution.
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“I don’t think it was fatigue. I’m sure guys got tired at times,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anyone’s performance was based on fatigue, I think we just need to be sharper and execute better. And continue to work the game and not fight it at times and play the right way.”
“I feel both teams were fatigued, really,” Dylan Harper said. “I just feel like they executed better.”
Wembanyama scored a team-high 26 points — 11 coming in the fourth — and Harper had 16 off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Knicks and Brunson from stealing home court advantage on Wednesday night.
But this youthful Spurs team is gaining experience by the day, and they are confident they can bounce back in Game 2.
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“We’re confident but also have a chip on our shoulder from this game we just lost,” Harper said. “You never want to lose and going into this next game, we’re going to be even more hungrier and keep on proving.”
“We’ve been down in a series before,” Wembanyama said. “I’m not kicking myself about anything, really. I’m not worried in the slightest.”
Game 2 takes place Friday night.
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