The Spurs need an unprecedented comeback when the best-of-seven series moves to New York for Games 3 and 4.
Published June 6, 2026
Jalen Brunson made the game-winning free throw as the New York Knicks held off a wild rally from San Antonio to beat the Spurs 105-104 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
San Antonio star Victor Wembaneyama committed a crucial turnover late in the game, missing a potential game-winner with two seconds left on Friday, leaving the Spurs in need of an unprecedented comeback as the best-of-seven series moves to New York for Games 3 and 4.
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No team has lifted the trophy after losing the first two finals games at home.
Michael Jordan’s 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets were the only teams to win the first two games of a Championship Series on the road, and both teams won the title.
The Knicks have a 13-game winning streak, the second longest in postseason history, and will have a chance to clinch their first title since 1973 in front of their home fans at Madison Square Garden. US President Donald Trump is also scheduled to attend on Monday.
They had to endure a spectacular fourth-quarter surge by the Spurs, who erased a 14-point deficit with a 14-0 run.
Wenbanyama overcame a slow start and scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half, and a 3-point play with 57.3 seconds left gave the Spurs their first lead since the second quarter at 104-102.
With 9.5 seconds left, Wenbanyama grabbed a rebound off Brunson’s miss, but a bad pass behind teammate Stephon Castle tied the game at 104-104.
Brunson scooped up the ball and was fouled, then made the first of two free throws to put the Knicks back in the lead.
San Antonio had one last chance to come out of a timeout with 7.5 seconds left. They gave the ball to their superstar, but his jump shot missed the rim.
“I threw that away,” said Wenbanyama, 22. “We failed. We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game.”
Karl-Anthony Towns, who led the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds, admitted he was praying when Wembaneyama scored the Spurs’ final try.
“A great player took a great shot and it didn’t go in,” Towns said.
“What a ballgame.”
For the second straight game, Towns put in a great defensive performance that pushed Wenbanyama out of his comfort zone.
“He’s a once-in-a-generation player,” Towns said. “You’ve got to make it difficult for him. So I’m just trying to use my experience, my size, my skills to make it difficult for him.”
Brunson and Mikal Bridges each scored 20 points for the Knicks, OG Anunoby had 17 points and Landry Shamet had 13 points off the bench.
For the Spurs, Wenbanyama had nine rebounds, four blocked shots, and two steals, and De’Aaron Fox scored 20 points.
Not wanting to end up in a 2-0 hole back in New York, the Spurs attacked the paint from the start.
Wembaneyama thrilled Spurs fans at Frostbank Center, where Knicks supporters were a vocal presence, with his first basket of the night, a left-handed dunk that gave the Spurs a 15-10 lead.
Fox made an alley-oop layup off a feed from Devin Vassell, extending the lead to 10 points with less than two minutes left in the first.
After the Spurs extended their lead to 12 points, the Knicks fought back in a tense second quarter, taking their first lead at 49-48 on Landry Shamet’s layup with 3:39 left in the first half.
San Antonio regained the lead, but Towns’ 3-pointer against Wenbangyama gave the Knicks a 56-52 advantage at halftime, pushing them up to 12 points and leading 84-75 entering the fourth quarter.
“What a ballgame,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “It was a great ballgame. They scored runs. We scored runs. They scored runs. We scored runs. They scored runs. We scored runs. They scored runs. We scored runs. They scored runs. We scored runs. They scored runs. We scored runs.”
“We could have folded a few times, but our guys just kept fighting…no matter what goals they conceded, no matter what time of the game our guys just kept lifting each other up.”
