NBA FINALS PREVIEW: The New York Knicks
The New York Knicks are facing the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals. How will they play against the Alien and the men in black?
The New York Knicks have gone nuclear this postseason. After losing two straight games in the first round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks, they have won a historic 11 straight games, including a sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are hoping to carry the momentum as they play game 1 of the Finals in San Antonio.
That’s a tall order, and a lot of things must be done if they want to steal game 1 in San Antonio.
FAST OFFENSE
First, they would have to generate a faster offense (remember the Mike D’Antoni era?) and make use of the slashers (Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, OG Anunoby) particularly in transition. They must learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder–the Thunder were most successful when they focused on trying to score in transition when the Spurs defense had not been set.
This is problematic, because the half-court sets have allowed the Knicks to score a lot in the previous series–make Karl Anthony-Towns a stretch big to draw out the defense (the Cleveland bigs Allen and Mobley, 76ers Embiid and Harris) and let Brunson do his slashing, like in that Game 1 against Cleveland where they overcame a 20+ point deficit in the second half.
Not as easy against the Spurs though—Stephon Castle will probably get the Brunson assignment, and he is not James Harden or Tyrese Maxey–Castle has been battle tested defensively by Deni Avdija, Anthony Edwards, and the league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and he succeeded. As if this is not sufficient, the defensive capabilities of the Spurs wings to rotate have been very effective against small line-ups, which New York (and Oklahoma) frequently ran. Don’t forget the 7’5” alien roaming the paint, and he could easily get Brunson even from the weak side.
ISOLATE WEMBY
Second, the Knicks would have to deal with the western conference finals MVP Victor Wembanyama, who has been playing out of this world.
The Thunder were at times effective at keeping Wemby out of the painted area, but it required Chet Holmgren, an NBA all-defensive team member; Isaiah Hartenstein, a 7-feet bruiser-enforcer, and a bunch of smaller bulldogs (Alex Caruso, Jaylin Williams).
Can the Knicks employ that same tactic?
They got Towns, who is also called the Big Purr, and Mitchell Robinson, their center who is a good rebounder. They might have to use their back-up Ariel Hukporti just to have bodies against Wemby.
It would be interesting to see how coach Mike Brown deals with the Wemby anomaly. It is not as if things are hopeless–the teams are 1-1 this season. They actually beat the Spurs in the NBA Cup finals.
So can the Knicks steal game 1 in this 1999 NBA Finals rematch? Interestingly, that 1999 Finals match had Rick Brunson (Jalen Brunson’s father) on the Knicks roster.
The Spurs, with their twin towers Tim Duncan and David Robinson, won the series in just 5 games against an old Patrick Ewing, Marcus Camby, Allan Houston, and Latrell Sprewell.
History is looking to repeat itself.
DAILY FANTASY PICKS:
Captain: Jalen Brunson
Vice Captain: Karl Anthony Towns
Key picks: OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Landry Shamet, Mitchell Robinson
You may use the suggested picks to play Daily Fantasy now! Here’s how to get you started. Don’t miss the NBA Playoffs!
Here are the matches this week!
