NBA Finals’ 6 biggest overreactions after Knicks steal Game 1

The San Antonio Spurs were comfortably in control against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals. The Spurs held a 14-point second half lead by flummoxing what was a high-powered Knicks’ offense all postseason. The game started to change in the third quarter when Victor Wembanyama headed to the bench for a breather, which allowed Jalen Brunson to catch a rhythm and his teammates to find their confidence. The game was tied going into the fourth quarter, and that meant New York had the Spurs right where they wanted them.

Brunson took over down the stretch to deliver the Knicks a 105-95 Game 1 victory in San Antonio. It didn’t matter that the Spurs led for most of the night, because the Knicks have the best clutch player in the game, and he again willed them across the finish line with spectacular shot-making on a night where he had to briefly go to the locker room after injuring his knee .

The Knicks have stolen homecourt advantage. The Spurs are suddenly in a must-win situation in Game 2 before the series heads to Madison Square Garden. Here are our Game 1 overreactions after a fantastic start to the 2026 NBA Finals.

If you want to beat the Knicks, you better have a big fourth quarter lead, because if it’s close, Brunson is taking New York home. The Knicks have fantastic spacing with three knockdown shooters around their star guard, and it allows him to work one-on-one in the biggest moments. Brunson is about as small as NBA players get, he’s not particularly fast, and he hasn’t dunked the last two seasons. It doesn’t matter: he gets to his spots better than anyone in the league, and he has both the courage and the touch to consistently hit shots from a variety of angles.

Brunson has a lifetime of practice in these clutch situations. I vividly remember his high school heroics in suburban Chicago leading Stevenson to three Finals Four appearances and one state championship. He was a role player on one national championship team at Villanova as a freshman, and the driving force on another as a junior. He’s built for these moments. If the game is tight late, the Knicks know they have the ultimate closer.

Rookie guard Dylan Harper might have been San Antonio’s best player in Game 1, but head coach Mitch Johnson pulled him out of the game with four minutes left, and he never returned. Johnson chose to close with De’Aaron Fox , Devin Vassell , and Julian Champagnie . You can quibble with who you think should have been on the bench out of that trio, but there’s no doubt that Harper should have been on the floor.

Fox just hasn’t been at his best all season, and it’s likely that he’s still playing hurt after missing games in the Western Conference Finals with an ankle injury. He was pretty bad all night in Game 1, finishing with seven points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field. Fox missed a nine-foot jumper that could have tied the game with 90 seconds left, then he bailed out the Knicks by fouling Mikal Bridges late in the shot-clock on the next possession. That swing lost the Spurs the game.

Harper was outstanding in the first half before cooling some in the second. Still, he finished with 16 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting. It’s worth noting that Harper was -5 in his 28 minutes, while Fox was even through his 38 minutes. I just feel like Harper is the Spurs’ best backcourt shot-creator at this point, and without him creating advantages, San Antonio’s offense bogged down late.