Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson have been a difficult combination to guard in the NBA Finals.
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NEW YORK – The NBA Finals are so close to a 1-1 series instead of a 2-0 New York Knicks advantage over the San Antonio Spurs.
So close.
Had Victor Wembanyama not committed a turnover with 9.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter of a tie game. Had Wembanyama made the game’s final shot.
Had those things happened and not what transpired – a 105-104 Knicks victory in Game 2 on Friday – the discussion around the Finals would be different.
Instead of talking about a potential six- or seven-game series, the question is:
Can the Knicks sweep and win their first title since 1973 at home in Madison Square Garden … this week?
It’s possible. The Knicks are on an all-time heater, winners of 13 consecutive playoff games, and playing with the poise and confidence of a veteran team that understands the stakes and knows how to finish the job.
Can the Spurs get a win? Can they put pressure on the Knicks, who are the third team in Finals history to win the first two games on the road? The other two teams (1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets) won titles. The Bulls took six games to beat the Phoenix Suns, and the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic.
“If there’s a thematic thing, the biggest thing is we’ve put in some good, hard work at times, and have not taken advantage of that hard work,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “That’s been partially some undisciplined things of us, partially also New York has stepped up and made some plays at the end of clock and finished out possessions.”
Here are three things to watch (plus a bonus item!) during Game 3 on Monday in New York (8:30 ET, ABC/ESPN):
1.The Wembanyama-Towns matchup
KAT is showing off his skills recording the most assists (90) by a Knicks center in a single postseason.
Through two games, Karl-Anthony Towns has won the matchup against Wembanyama, and if the Spurs want to make this a tighter series, it needs to be even at worst and preferably, if you’re the Spurs, in Wembanyama’s favor.
Towns, who has been tremendous in the series at 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, won’t even nibble on the idea that he’s winning the matchup.
“It’s great when you get to go against a great player, a player that I’ve spoken about countless times that is going to be a generational player,” Towns said Sunday. “It’s something we’ve never seen in the NBA before. To be able to go and play in this moment against the best is all you could ask for.
“To be in this position right now at 2-0, speaks to our team, the resiliency, grit, what we’ve been able to do collectively as a group to put ourselves in this position.”
Victor Wembanyama finishes with 29 points and nine rebounds in Game 2 vs. the Knicks.
San Antonio found success with Wembanyama in the second half of Game 2. He scored 22 of his 29 points in the final two quarters – 12 in the third quarter, 10 in the fourth – and the Spurs got him shots at the rim. More of that is necessary in Game 3 for San Antonio.
The Spurs are winning the minutes when Wembanyama is on the court against the Knicks, but by just 1.5 points per game. That number needs to be higher so they can withstand the minutes Wembanyama is on the bench.
Limiting Towns offensively, preventing the Knicks from too many second-chance opportunities and protecting the paint are on Wembanyama’s priority list defensively, too.
“We need to capitalize (and) actually use all the efforts we did,” Wembanyama said. “It felt like we did a lot of things wrong, but we also were relentless and kept pushing, but kind of like wasted that effort.
“Even though I know it’s not wasted because our lessons are learned, I know we’re not going to make the mistakes of the past again, but in a moment like this we need to make these things matter.”
2. What will Brunson deliver at home?
Jalen Brunson has been fantastic in the final minutes of the fourth quarter through two Finals games. No surprise. He was the 2024-25 Kia Clutch Player of the Year and thrives in those moments. In the 2026 NBA Playoffs, Brunson leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring at 9.3 points per, and among players who have played in at least five games in clutch time, Brunson is second in scoring at 4.3 points per game.
He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and scored the Knicks’ final three points in Game 2.
Yet he is 19-for-56 (33.9%) from the field and 4-for-17 (23.5%) on 3-pointers in the Finals.
“He’s a great player,” said Spurs guard Dylan Harper. “I feel like he kind of likes moments like that. He steps up in those big moments. I think for us we have to keep doubling down on our game plan, kind of just seeing what works and just keep going to that.
“He makes big shots. That’s kind of the type of player he is. But for us, we can’t get too down on things like that. We got to just keep on applying the pressure.
3. Role players
Georges Niang discusses what makes Mikal Bridges such a good player on The Association.
The Knicks’ role players have delivered. Mikal Bridges scored 20 points on 8-for-13, and Landry Shamet had 13 points on 3-for-7 3-point shooting in Game 2. And he’s not a role player in the traditional sense because he’s an All-Defensive selection, but OG Anunoby had 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in Game 2 and 17 points in Game 1.
New York’s bench has outscored San Antonio’s 55-39. The Spurs can counter the Knicks’ depth if they get all-around performances in the same game from Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox.
* Bonus: A Finals game to behold at Madison Square Garden
Past their bedtime… but these New York kids are ALL IN for the NBA Finals 💙🧡
(via: @saraanneleeds/IG) pic.twitter.com/fw8XHKadS1
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2026
Madison Square Garden will be on fire. It’s the first Finals game at the arena since 1999.
Expect pandemonium. Expect a joyous and excited crowd.
Knicks alumni will be there: Patrick Ewing, Bernard King, Walt Frazier, Larry Johnson, John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, Allan Houston.
Stars will be courtside: Spike Lee. Ben Stiller. Mariska Hargitay. Timothée Chalamet. Tracy Morgan. Tina Fey. Chris Tucker. Fat Joe. Anne Hathaway.
“We got to be desperate for these fans.” Towns said. “Fans have earned the right and deserve the right to see Finals basketball be played here at Madison Square Garden. For this to be the first game in a long time that they have seen Finals basketball, it’s up to us to bring it, give them something to cheer for, give them something to get loud for and also give them something to believe in.
“I talked about the word ‘hope.’ Hope has been brought back to the city. We’ve revitalized that word. But the word ‘success’ hasn’t been seen in this city for a long time. We have to continue to fight to bring that word back to fruition.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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