Karl-Anthony Towns defense, Jalen Brunson clutch plays, and other reasons why Knicks won Game 1 of the Finals

The Knicks absolutely stunned the basketball world in Game 1. The Spurs entered the series as heavy favorites, and by the third quarter it looked as if San Antonio was about to blow the game open. But then, the switch flipped and a 14-point Spurs' lead evaporated as New York outplayed San Antonio down the stretch to win 105-95 and steal home court advantage. 

It can be a trap to overreact to the opening game of a series. But it does tend to reveal what the pressure points will be going forward. No, the Spurs aren't cooked after this loss. But they do have some issues that they will have to try and fix before Friday's Game 2. 

Here are my notes of the biggest takeaways and observations from Game 1, and what it means for the rest of the series. 

Six observations on Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals

Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wemby stopper?

Towns has never been known for his defensive prowess. He has a penchant for committing silly fouls, and he was criticized last year for his inability to execute the Knicks' defensive schemes. 

He has been much better during the team's Finals run, playing legitimately good defense. His performance against Wemby was a shocking cherry on top of what he's done during this postseason. 

KAT's defense on Wemby won the Knicks Game 1. pic.twitter.com/z5hKLidnYF

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 4, 2026

Wemby did get Towns a couple of times, including on an isolation and-one drive that cut the Knicks' lead down to one point with three minutes left. For the most part though, Towns forced Wemby into difficult shots and was extremely solid in one-on-one situations, helping to force the Spurs star into a miserable 6-of-21 shooting performance. 

Wemby has been the best player in the world during these playoffs. The thinking was that OG Anunoby would be the one to make him mortal. Instead, the credit goes to the most highly-criticized defender on the Knicks. 

Jalen Brunson did just enough, and brought it home in crunch time

It wasn't Brunson's best game by a long shot. He scored a game-high 30, but his 12-of-31 from the field won't win any efficiency awards. He was gutting it out after a scary knee injury in the first quarter, a sprained ankle later in the game, and a visible blood stain on his leg. 

Brunson started to get hot after the Spurs tried rookie Carter Bryant on him. That thinking did make some sense on paper.

Bryant is a good defender and a physical player, which are the kinds of guys that guard Brunson well. But things escalated quickly in the second quarter. Brunson got a putback off Bryant. Then a layup. He took Bryant to the rim again for a floater. He may or may not have thrown a trident and killed Bryant at one point. 

Brunson was even better inside the last two minutes. His 3-pointer helped the Knicks regain a 97-95 lead. The Spurs were forced to double him the next time down, leading to Mikal Bridges getting fouled on a jumper. And his ridiculous pull-up jumper while falling down extended the lead up to 101-95 with 38 seconds left, essentially ending the game. 

MORE: How Jalen Brunson overcame injury to lead Knicks' rally

Mitchell Robinson's effectiveness

Robinson gutted it out through his right pinky injury to play 13 minutes. His hand did look like it affected one of his missed dunk attempts, and he also missed his lone free throw attempt.

Robinson wasn't a difference-maker, but he did make some nice plays and opened up driving lanes for Brunson by sealing Wemby off or presenting himself as a lob threat. 

It was a bit surprising that the Spurs didn't try to intentionally foul Robinson at all after it was a successful strategy in earlier playoff rounds for Knicks opponents. The Spurs don't have a ton of players who they would want to willingly pick up fouls, but that may be an adjustment that they make later in this series.

A peak Josh Hart game

Hart's jump shot was supposed to be a major weakness for the Knicks. The thinking was that the Spurs could hide Wemby on him, ignoring Hart on the perimeter and allowing Wemby to camp in the paint. 

That did happen from time to time, and Hart's poor 1-of-5 from the field and 0-of-3 from 3 did muck up a Knicks offense that was not all that great. Hart figured out that challenging Wemby at the rim was a mistake early in the first quarter after Wemby swatted his shot to the moon.

Putting those flaws aside, the try-hard guard did everything else, pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds, a game-high six assists, and a game-high four steals. He was a game-high plus-22. 

"Whatever you need of him, he's going to execute," Brunson said of Hart during his postgame interview on the ABC broadcast. "That's just who he is. He's going to find a way." 

Dylan Harper needed to start and close

Harper has been a great finisher at the rim throughout the playoffs. He stepped it up even more in Game 1, going 5-of-5 in the paint. 

Harper was keeping the Spurs close in the first quarter, scoring 10 points in his first seven minutes. He was like a shark in the water, smelling the blood on Brunson's knee and driving right into him. He was feasting in transition, running harder than the Knicks guards. And he was muscling through Bridges or finishing acrobatically over Hart. 

Despite being a rookie, Harper is one of the best players that the Spurs have. They may not be able to keep him out of the starting and closing lineup much longer. He sat for the final four minutes of regulation after air-balling a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Spurs poor shooting luck wasn't the reason for this loss

Knicks opponents have not shot the ball well from 3, and that continued in Game 1. The Spurs shot just 11-of-43 from 3, good for 25.6 percent. 

There may be an urge to reduce the Spurs' loss to that poor shooting luck. The Knicks didn't shoot much better though, hitting just 30.6 percent of their 36 attempts from deep. And both teams were excellent defensively, contributing to some forced 3's and a low percentage. 

The Spurs in particular looked extremely ready for what the Knicks were going to throw at them. They had New York's pet play scouted perfectly, a flex screen that was driving the Hawks crazy in the first round.

The Spurs were prepared to implement a switching scheme in order to stop it, and that coverage worked well.

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 4, 2026

More impressive was San Antonio's coverage on the Towns pick-and-pops with Brunson. That was going to be the hardest play to guard, and the Spurs schemed out a complex triple-switch strategy that they executed flawlessly every time in order to neutralize any advantages. 

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) June 4, 2026

The Spurs defended well enough to win Game 1. The big surprise was that the Knicks defended even better. 

San Antonio isn't going to win when Wemby is held to 29 percent from the field. It really is that simple. The Thunder were able to affect him with physicality. The Knicks relied more on great individual performances from Towns, Robinson, and others.

Wemby is too good to shoot this poorly for the rest of the series. But the Knicks showed that it might not matter how well he plays. 

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