The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs are both four wins away from winning the NBA championship and lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Having met three times already this season, including in the NBA Cup Final, the Knicks hold the advantage with two wins. They’ll come into this one on the back of 11 on the bounce and nine days’ rest, too.
Nonetheless, while it took up to Game 7 to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, this young Spurs team will have learned a lot from the series and bounce into the first of what is likely to be many NBA Finals in the coming years.
Out of the East: New York Knicks
The New York Knicks ended the last season as one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA. They fired Tom Thibodeau and leaned into a roster they thought could take the next step under different leadership.
“Cohesion is consistently underrated and a significant factor in considering their $11 [to win the title].” – NBA Season Preview
Jalen Brunson remains the chassis to New York’s chaos engine. He’s the straw that stirs the drink and has done so for 27.8 points and 6.7 assists per game throughout this playoff run.
New York is red hot and worked their way out of the Eastern Conference winning 11 games on the trot by a whopping average of 23.8 points per game. They’ve been ruthless on their path to a first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, becoming the first team to close out three series, on the road, all by 30+ points. Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, in particular, they became the first team in NBA playoff history to score 130 points without a single 20+ point scorer.
Pretty wild that it's been 27 years since the Knicks made the NBA Finals and the opponent they're facing in their return is the last opponent they faced in the Finals.
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) May 31, 2026
New York’s depth and cohesion has translated into elite production on both ends of the court. No team in NBA history has ever made it through a postseason with an Offensive Rating above 115 and a defensive rating below 105.
Knicks Defensive Rating: 123.3
Knicks Offensive Rating: 103.5
New York’s offensive rating is the highest intraconference mark by an Eastern Conference champion under the current playoff format, dating back to 2003.
Brunson is the key cog in the offence, but Towns has changed his role for great success. Most notably, however, he’s playing out a career-best defensive season to go along with 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes this season. OG Anunoby is another who will be tasked with a two-way role. He’s produced an incredible 9.1 box plus/minus through the playoffs so far and will no doubt feature heavily in their plans to contain Wembanyama alongside Towns and Mitchell Robinson.
Through The Thunder To The Finals: San Antonio Spurs
Victor Wembanyama is a freak. He’s changing the game on his own. Still, the San Antonio Spurs felt a year or two away from this moment at $56 to win the title before the season tipped off.
But with Wembanyama taking another step forward in his career, and much of the supporting cast keeping step with him, the Spurs are in their first NBA Finals since raising their fifth banner back in 2014.
Much to the glee of the majority of NBA fans, San Antonio ended the Oklahoma City Thunder’s hopes of becoming the first back-to-back champions since the 2017 and 2018 Golden State Warriors. They did so on the back of Wembanyama’s incredible defence. He’s the Defensive Player of the Year for as many years as he can stay healthy, and proved a task too tall for a Thunder team most had pegged as champions this season.
Offensively, whether it’s down low or playing Point Wemby, his 3.1 total win shares are the most of any player in the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
WEMBY: 2025-26 WEST FINALS MVP!
🏆 27.3 PPG
🏆 10.9 RPG
🏆 2.7 BPG
🏆 48.1 FG%
🏆 40.0 3P%
🏆 Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy winnerThe Spurs will seek their first NBA title since 2014 starting Wednesday, June 3 at 8:30pm/et on ABC! pic.twitter.com/ta9MELPPk5
— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2026
The towering Frenchman isn’t doing it all on his own, though. Julian Champagnie came up with the goods in Game 7 to pour in 20 points with six three-pointers. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are producing in the back court on both sides of the ball, too.
Things might need to look a little bit different for the Spurs defensively in this series. Wembanyama turns offensive players away from the basket with his presence down low, but the Knicks have had a lot of success using Karl-Anthony Towns in a high-post role and offensive initiator. The Spurs are long and athletic across the court. There aren’t any players for the Knicks to circle as a target. However, how they respond to Towns at the top to ensure they can maintain their elite low-post defence could well define the series.
NBA Finals Tips
Wembanyama is the key for both teams as the $1.57 favourite to be named NBA Finals MVP.
He’s enough of his own for the Spurs to win any game on any night. However, if the Knicks can contain his production with the ball and space the floor to limit his influence as a rim protector, the Spurs will need to rely on a less-experienced supporting cast.
Castle will have the task of limiting Brunson. While a strong defender, Brunson’s shot creation is among the best in the NBA. It’s safe to assume he will hold up his end of the Knicks offence – one that scored 123 points per game against the Spurs throughout the regular season. San Antonio finished the season third in defensive efficiency, but conceded more points per possession to the Knicks than any other opponent.
New York is the pick to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
More specifically on the opener, NBA Finals basketball will take its toll on the Knicks at some point, but they come into Game 1 on the back of a week to rest and consecutive four-game sweeps. They present as the value play as +5.5 underdogs and $2.60 to cause an upset.