The NBA Finals opener did not wait long to become uncomfortable for San Antonio. Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the New York Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit and beat the Spurs 105-95 on Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center. The win gave New York a 1-0 series lead, moved home-court advantage toward Madison Square Garden, and left a loud building suddenly doing the one thing no arena wants to do in June: processing quietly.
How did the Knicks take Game 1?
For much of the night, San Antonio looked ready to make its return to the NBA Finals feel like a formal announcement. The Spurs led by seven at halftime and pushed the margin to 14 midway through the third quarter, using length, pace and Victor Wembanyama’s defensive gravity to keep New York off balance.
Then the Knicks did what they have done throughout this playoff run. They absorbed the first real storm, stopped making the game easier for San Antonio, and closed the third quarter on a 22-9 run. By the start of the fourth, the score was tied at 76.
That changed the tone of the game completely. San Antonio had spent three quarters building control. New York needed about half a quarter to make that control look temporary.
Why did Brunson’s fourth quarter decide it?
Brunson’s night was not some clean shooting clinic packaged for highlight reels. He finished 12-for-31 from the field, took contact, missed early, and had to work through a Spurs defense built to make every possession feel like a group project.
But the closing minutes belonged to him. After Wembanyama made free throws to put San Antonio ahead 95-94 with 2:16 left, Brunson answered on the next Knicks possession with a corner 3-pointer. New York never trailed again.
He later added the shot that will survive the longest in Game 1 clips: a spinning jumper while falling to the floor in the final minute, sealing an 11-0 Knicks run to end the game. Knicks coach Mike Brown called Brunson “a gamer,” which is coach language for: yes, everyone in the building knew who was getting the ball, and it still worked.
What did Towns and the Knicks’ supporting cast add?
Karl-Anthony Towns gave New York the interior balance it needed, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds. With Wembanyama often roaming as a defensive disruptor, Towns found space around the rim, created pressure inside and helped the Knicks stay within reach during the minutes when Brunson was still trying to locate his rhythm.
OG Anunoby added 17 points, with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter. That mattered because San Antonio’s defense could not simply tilt everything toward Brunson and hope the math held.
Josh Hart also gave New York important connective tissue: rebounding, ball movement and defensive disruption. The Knicks did not commit a turnover in the fourth quarter. The Spurs committed five and shot 6-for-21 in the period. That is not a recipe, unless the recipe is for a film session nobody enjoys.
Why did second-chance points matter so much?
San Antonio won the overall rebounding battle 54-49 and collected more offensive rebounds, but New York made better use of its extra possessions. The Knicks held a 23-14 edge in second-chance points, turning loose balls, resets and extended trips into the kind of timely scoring that keeps a comeback from becoming theoretical.
The difference was not just effort. It was efficiency. The Spurs had chances to widen the gap and later to stabilize the game, but New York’s second-chance production kept narrowing the floor under San Antonio’s lead.
Those possessions also helped manage the uneven parts of Brunson’s shooting night. When the Knicks needed padding around their star guard’s shot-making, they found it in the places playoff games often turn: offensive rebounds, deflections, and possessions that refuse to end politely.
What happened to Wembanyama in his Finals debut?
Wembanyama’s first NBA Finals game produced the kind of stat line most players would gladly take: 26 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. It was still an uneven performance by his own standard, and by the standards attached to his role in this Spurs team.
He shot 6-for-21 from the field as New York crowded his driving lanes, forced uncomfortable attempts and made him work through traffic instead of letting him rise into clean rhythm. After the game, Wembanyama was blunt, saying he was “bad” and that the explanation was not complicated.
San Antonio also got 17 points from Stephon Castle, while Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper each scored 16. Champagnie’s first-half shooting helped build the lead, and Harper’s early aggression fed the home crowd. Once the game slowed and tightened, though, the Spurs struggled to generate clean half-court offense.
What history did New York’s win make?
The victory extended New York’s postseason winning streak to 12 games. According to NBA.com, the Knicks became only the third team in league history to reach that number in a single playoff run, joining the 1999 Spurs and the 2015 Golden State Warriors.
They also became the first team to beat San Antonio in Game 1 of an NBA Finals series. The Spurs had been 6-0 in Finals openers before Wednesday.
The broader Finals math now tilts in New York’s favor, though not decisively. Teams that win Game 1 of the NBA Finals have gone on to win the series 69.6 percent of the time, according to NBA Communications. Road teams that win Game 1 have won the series 42.1 percent of the time. Translation: stealing the opener matters, but nobody gets a parade for completing 25 percent of the assignment.
What comes next for the Spurs and Knicks?
The Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 and are chasing their first championship since 1973. After one game, they are three wins away from ending one of the league’s most persistent title droughts, and their current form is starting to look less like a hot streak and more like a system that keeps surviving pressure.
San Antonio has clearer immediate problems. The Spurs need to protect late leads, cut down fourth-quarter turnovers and find more efficient scoring spots for Wembanyama. New York will try to keep its defensive discipline while making sure Brunson does not have to turn every fourth quarter into a personal rescue mission.
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday, June 5, in San Antonio, with all NBA Finals games listed for 8:30 p.m. ET. The Spurs get their answer opportunity quickly. Game 1, though, belonged to Brunson and a Knicks team that turned a hostile road opener into another proof point for a playoff run built on late-game nerve.
