00:00When Jalen Brunson limped cautiously to the locker room late in the first quarter
00:03of Wednesday night's game of the NBA Finals after Harrison Barnes of the Spurs landed on his right
00:09knee, there was no panic from the Knicks. There was also no panic when San Antonio took a 14-point
00:15lead in the third quarter, appearing younger and more explosive. It could be because the Knicks
00:21have been riding this magic carpet for weeks, winning every postseason game since losing in
00:26Game 3 of the first round in Atlanta, which seemed to wake them up and set up a playoff monster
00:31that
00:31has dominated since. After a rough start, Brunson made it into Game 1, scoring 13 of his game-high
00:3830 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks win 105-95 at Frostbank Center and reclaim home
00:45court advantage. It was the Knicks' 12th playoff victory in a row, and it followed a familiar
00:50pattern. Start out slow, catch up, and let Brunson score. Editors picks. Wemby says he will come
00:56back after Spurs. Let that one go. See Michael Wright. Fan storms court and takes a selfie with
01:03Wemby next to him. Gulliver. Ben, the Knicks steal Game 1. Biggest takeaways in what we learned from
01:09the NBA Finals. NBA aficionados, Jalen. In the second half, he won MVP. Mike Brown, the Knicks' head
01:17coach, said he was huge for us. He performed as MVP candidates are expected to. He carried us home.
01:24We put the ball in his hands, and he got it done for us down the stretch. Brown has routinely
01:30been
01:30calling Brunson an MVP candidate, railing against this season's voting, which didn't see him earn
01:36even a fifth-place vote. The back-to-back winner, Oklahoma City's shy Gilgis Alexander, who the Spurs
01:42eliminated in the Western Conference Finals, was one of eight players who received votes. San Antonio
01:48had a hard time guarding Brunson in the fourth quarter, especially since the Knicks don't seem
01:53to be bothered by being in the Finals. Brunson stated,
01:56I don't want to say calmness, but I think we know what we have to do. I believe that we
02:01are a pretty
02:02cohesive group. Know that we just need to keep chipping away at each other, while still having
02:07each other's back and trusting each other. It's just a testament to our collective mindset.
02:12As Brunson struggled for first three quarters, it was Knicks' center Carl Anthony Towns who became
02:18assertive on offense. The Knicks' top goal is to keep Spurs' star victor Wimbanyama busy,
02:23who was named unanimously the Defensive Player of the Year. Wimbanyama hasn't seen an offense as
02:29diverse as Towns. For me, when I go out there, I try to be aggressive in playmaking. Towns said,
02:35early in the game, just you never know what actually the defense is going to give you.
02:40I just wanted to be aggressive, especially early on. You never know what will happen.
02:45The Knicks won game one of the NBA Finals thanks to Jalen Brunson's 30 points and an 11-point run.
02:52Getty Images slash Gregory's Seamus Towns scored 10 of his 18 points in the third,
02:56and the Knicks pulled even by the end of the quarter. O.G. and Nunnaby kept New York afloat
03:01with a torrid start to the fourth quarter, when the Spurs' athleticism and speed was threatening
03:06to overtake the Knicks. That gave Brunson just enough time to find his matchups and perform his
03:12magic. When Wimbanyama sat for extended periods, the Knicks attacked the basket and may have caused
03:18him to overthink at times. Brunson and the Knicks have been through plenty of stressful nights.
03:22In game one of the Easton Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers,
03:26they trailed by 22 in the fourth quarter before roaring back,
03:30sending the game to overtime, and essentially ending any idea of a threat in the series.
03:35Last year's second-round series featured multiple 20-point comebacks against the Boston Celtics.
03:41The Knicks took a surprising 2-0 road advantage before winning the series in six games.
03:46Brunson didn't solely engineer every comeback, but he has often been at the center of it.
03:51The NBA Finals' first game was no exception. Brunson stated,
03:56I think the most important thing in an environment like this is, I think,
04:00knowing we're on the road and knowing my teammates have my back.
04:03We have arrived at this point because they trust me and I trust them. I mean,
04:08I'm extremely grateful for them each and every time we go out there together at night.
04:13It took 31 shots for Brunson to score 30 points,
04:16but the lack of efficiency will get lost in the moment.
04:20Brown stated,
04:21Man, he's a gamer.
04:23In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that's what MVPs are supposed to do.
04:28We declared that we would share his life and death as we handed him the ball.
04:32Additionally, he completed it for us, which has occurred repeatedly.
04:37He got to his spots, and he made plays.
04:40Knowing that they won the opening game despite shooting just 41% from the field and 31% from three
04:46-point range,
04:47the Knicks can go into game too confident.
04:49Most important, they held the Spurs to 2-4-19 shooting from three-point range after halftime,
04:55making the New York comeback possible.
04:58Brunson stated,
04:59It's a position we obviously want to be in, but it's always a next-play mentality.
05:04We continue to find a way and just kind of keep chipping away.
05:07We just kept chipping away,
05:09even though we were aware that one play would not be enough to bring us back.
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05:40Wembanima is positive that the Spurs will recover from their loss in Game 1 play.
05:44Knicks.
05:45Brunson surged late to take down Spurs in Game 1, 156.
05:49Michael C.
05:51Write.
05:51June 4th, 2026, 2.59 a.m. Eastern Time.
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