Knicks win in Game 1 led to 70% chance of this happening for New York

What a win it was for the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. 

The Knicks honestly played pretty bad basketball for much of the game by their standards over the past month or so, but absolutely dominated in the fourth quarter behind Jalen Brunson, who proved once again that not only is he one of the better players in the NBA, but perhaps the best closer the game currently has. 

Brunson did everything in his power to ensure this Knicks team came away with a win, completely emptying the clip on his way to 30 points. He shot 12-31 from the field, which isn't great by his standards, but Brunson understands that right now he needs to leave it all on the court, and he did just that. 

In fact, Brunson also put his team in a really good position, as according to Heavy Sports, the team that wins Game 1 of the NBA Finals goes on to win the championship nearly 70 percent of the time.

“With a gritty 105-95 comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Knicks improved their odds of capturing the franchise’s first NBA title since 1973. Historically, teams that win Game 1 of the NBA Finals go on to win the championship nearly 70 percent of the time,” Alder Almo of Heavy wrote.

I always hate to look at stats during the NBA Finals, and really any postseason games. The reason is we've seen some crazy things happen in this league, so unless it's 100 percent and something is mathematically impossible, I don't want the Knicks to get too excited just yet. 

I know this veteran-led team and the hyped-up fan base are far from content, as one game ultimately doesn't mean a lot. It was a great start, and history would say the Knicks have a shot here, and even a good one, but they still need three more wins against a very good Spurs team.

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