Knicks–Spurs Battle for NBA Glory Begins Wednesday

The bottom line of the 2026 NBA Finals for New York Knicks fans: End the 53-year championship drought. For the San Antonio Spurs’ faithful, win a sixth title.

The Knicks and Spurs jump-start the best-of-seven series on Wednesday in San Antonio at Frost Bank Center. Games 1 and 2 will be hosted by the Spurs, then the Finals shift to New York’s Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4. All Finals games will be broadcast exclusively by ABC TV, and have an 8:30 p.m. EDT tipoff.

When the NBA’s 80th season began in the fall, few could have said with any certainty that the final two teams standing in June would be the Knicks and Spurs.

Just a season ago, San Antonio finished 2024–2025 in 13th place in the Western Conference. At 34–48, improvement was expected this season, but reaching the Finals seemed to be a few years away. However, after finishing off the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, 111–103, it’s San Antonio’s time to be featured in the NBA’s biggest event of the season.

San Antonio’s star center Victor Wembanyama, 22, led his team in scoring, pumping in 22 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Wembanyama, the Western Conference Finals MVP, is in his third NBA season.

The Spurs have reached the Finals for the first time since 2014. The Spurs defeated the Miami Heat in five games to claim the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in 2014.

In Game 7 against the Thunder, San Antonio had seven players reach double digits in scoring. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was proud of his team’s collective effort on Saturday.

“The biggest play of the game might have been Luke Kornet’s block,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson told reporters after the game.

“When you start peeling back the layers of how many minutes this guy got, or what the box score said, obviously, we had a lot of guys step up and make shots tonight, which we needed with the variety of people that got double-digit points, but this was a team effort. Huge, huge moments.”

During the regular season, New York and San Antonio met twice, with each team winning once. These two teams also went head-to-head on December 16 in the Emirates NBA Cup Championship in Las Vegas. The Knicks were victorious: 124–113.

New York and San Antonio last met in the NBA Finals 27 years ago. The Spurs won the series four games to one—their first of five NBA championships collected since joining the league in 1976.

New York, which last earned a championship in 1973, has reached the NBA Finals by defeating the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Cleveland Cavaliers in the postseason. The Knicks come into Wednesday’s Game 1 riding an 11-game playoff winning streak. They have outscored their opponents by an average of 23.8 points in each game.

Knicks’ players know this series with the Spurs, as with the previous three they battled through, won’t be easy.

“I mean, they’re a special team,” Knicks guard Deuce McBride said, according to FOX Sports on Sunday at New York’s training site in Greenburgh, New York.

“Obviously, they have the Defensive Player of the Year, obviously a great organization, and they got a lot of great young guys, so we’re just excited for this matchup.”

The Spurs muscled their way to the Finals by dominating the Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Oklahoma City. With neither New York nor San Antonio participating in last year’s Finals, the NBA will crown a different champion for the eighth consecutive season. The last team to win back-to-back titles was the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

The Knicks’ offense counts heavily on guard Jalen Brunson, who was selected unanimously as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. He has averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists per game, thus far in the playoffs.

Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, is an assistant coach on the Knicks’ staff under head coach Mike Brown. Ironically, the Knicks team that played in the 1999 Finals against San Antonio included Rick Brunson on New York’s roster. He appeared in Game 1 of the series.

Much of the Knicks’ success this season can be traced back to the team hiring Leon Rose, a former super sports agent, as president. Immediately upon Rose’s hire on March 2, 2020, he sent an email to season ticket holders letting them know he understood their expectations of the team, according to the New York Post.

“To be successful in the NBA, you need the best talent, a tireless work ethic, a winning culture, and a total commitment to the development of both the individual and the team. I know that the ability to forge solid, productive relationships is what binds all that together,” Rose said.

Both the Knicks and Spurs have had several days to rest and practice for the most important seven games of their season. By June 19, when Game 7 is planned for San Antonio (if necessary), at the latest, a new champion will have celebrated the happiest day of their careers.