One of the most anticipated Game 1s in recent NBA Finals history is upon us. The underdog New York Knicks are looking to pick up a potentially pivotal series opening win, while the favored San Antonio Spurs look to shut down their red-hot opponents before they can gain the momentum necessary to pull off the upset.
Will Jalen Brunson and the Knicks start the series off on the right note? Or will Victor Wembanyama and the youthful Spurs bring themselves another win closer to early immortality? Follow along with Ballislife’s LIVE log to stay informed!
Live updates will begin after tip-off
Starting Lineups
Knicks: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns
Spurs: DeAaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Victor Wembanyama
Injuries
Knicks: Mitchell Robinson (active, hand)
Spurs: N/A
Line: SA -4.5
O/U: 217.5
FINAL: San Antonio Spurs 105, New York Knicks 95 (New York Leads 1-0)
Fourth Quarter
0.00 – Ballgame. The Knicks win streak continues in Game 1 of the NBA Finals and they get the result they absolutely needed to make this a series. Final score: 105-95 NYK.
37.8 – JALEN BRUNSON! WOAH! He hits a crazy high-arching pull-up to put the Knicks ahead by six. Is that the dagger? What a performance by Brunson down the stretch. The Knicks absolutely needed this win with the rest advantage and a lackluster Wemby performance, and it looks like they’re well on their way to that. 101-95 NYK.
1:11 – De’Aaron Fox sends Mikal Bridges to the free throw line. Bridges converts both, putting the Knicks ahead by four as we approach the final minute of Game 1. 99-95 NYK.
1:51 – JALEN BRUNSON FOR THREE! He puts the Knicks back ahead by two and ends a four-plus minute scoring drought that saw them miss at least seven consecutive field goals. A huge shot from Mr. Clutch. 97-95 NYK.
2:16 – Wembanyama is fouled again and heads to the charity stripe, where he hits both free throw attempts to put the Spurs back ahead by one. Both teams have taken each other’s best punch and countered multiple times each tonight, who’s going to land the decisive blow? 95-94 SA.
3:24 – After Julian Champagnie hits a pair of free throws to cut the Knicks lead to eight, Victor Wembanyama follows it up with a basket and the foul. He converts the free throw to extend the Spurs’ run to 7-0 and pull them within one. 94-83 NYK.
4:50 – A minute and some change after Jalen Brunson put the Knicks ahead eight points from close range, Victor Wembanyama buries his second 3-pointer of the night to cut New York’s lead to five. The Knicks aren’t going to run away with this thing just yet. 94-89 NYK.
6:23 – Oh boy. It looked like the Knicks secured a steal on the defensive end, but a fan runs out onto the court and the play is blown dead. After a brief referee meeting, they decided to do a jump ball at center court. Predictably, Wembanyama and the Spurs secure it. 92-86 NYK.
6:34 – Brunson drives and finishes another layup, putting the Knicks ahead by six. All the momentum has shifted as the best clutch time performer in the NBA today gets to the point in the game where he’s most comfortable. Wembanyama and the Spurs are struggling to do much of anything offensively, and they are on the verge of being completely on the ropes. Spurs call timeout. 92-86 NYK.
6:52 – Jalen Brunson converts inside and is then sent to the line and makes both free throw on consecutive possessions, pushing the Knicks lead to four immediately following the timeout. 90-86 NYK.
7:37 – TIE GAME! Devin Vassell pulls the Spurs even with a tip-in and Mike Brown calls a timeout for New York. Crunch time is coming. 86-86.
8:32 – OG Anunoby’s second 3-pointer in as many possessions puts the Knicks ahead by five, but the Spurs keep punching right back as Stephon Castle buries a triple to pull back within two. Shots are falling for both sides now, so buckle up your seatbelt for a classic ending. 86-84 NYK.
9:40 – Down by three, Victor Wembanyama gets the rebound and finishes the second chance effort to cut New York’s lead to one. Wembanyama has been struggling offensively and is just 3-of-14 from the field, but this would be an ideal time to turn it on. 80-79 NYK.
11:32 – Landy Shamet opens the scoring in the fourth quarter with a reverse ay-in that puts the Knicks ahead by two and gives them their first lead since they led 43-42 in the second quarter. 14 point deficit erased. 78-76 NYK.
Third Quarter
9.0 – After Victor Wembanyama put the Spurs ahead by three with a ferocious slam dunk, Deuce McBride closed the first half with a game-tying 3-pointer for the Knicks that sets the stage for what should be an incredible fourth quarter. 76-76.
2:01 – BRUNSON! He shifts Champagnie and hits from mid-range to tie the game. The Spurs 14-point third quarter lead has disappeared completely and they’re in desperate need of an answer. 71-71.
2:52 – De’Aaron Fox scores for San Antonio to cut into New York’s run, but Karl Anthony Towns hits the bucket and is fouled once again. He converts the free throw, and now it’s just a two point game. 71-69 SA.
3:31 – Karl-Anthony Towns converts inside to extend the Knicks run to 12-2, and its now just a three point game in San Antonio. Wembanyama is back in the game, but the momentum may be long gone. 69-66 SA.
4:28 – The Knicks are fighting back. Karl-Anthony Towns is fouled and converts the basket to trim the Spurs lead to eight, than Jalen Brunson converts inside to extend the Knicks run to 7-0 and cut the lead to six. The Knicks have started to click with Wembanyama out. 67-61 SA.
7:04 – With the Spurs ahead by 13 points, Victor Wembanyama is now headed to the bench with an obvious limp. It doesn’t look like he’s going to go to the locker room at the moment, so that’s a good sign for San Antonio at least. 63-50 SA.
9:07 – Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns connect on an alley-oop to put the Knicks on the board in the second half, but they promptly send Wembanyama to the line on the Spurs’ next possession and he hits both to regain an 11 point lead. 61-50 SA.
9:31 – Stephon Castle converts inside and the Spurs are now ahead by a game-high 11 points. Knicks need to formulate an answer expeditiously. 59-48 SA.
10:31 – After a scoreless minute and a half to start the third, Wembanyama is fouled by Karl-Anthony Towns and he converts both attempts from the charity stripe to open the second half scoring and put the Spurs up 9. 57-48 SA.
Second Quarter
2.3 – CHAMPAGNIE FROM 3 AGAIN! The Spurs extend their lead to seven at halftime on the back of another incredible shooting performance from the Game 7 hero and New York native Champagnie, who has 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. A huge end to the half for the Spurs. 55-48 SA.
1:22 – Jose Alvarado answers with a 3-pointer for the Knicks that again cuts the Spurs lead to one, but Julian Champagnie hits from deep again himself and we’re right back where we were. 50-46 SA.
1:59 – After Victor Wembanyama gets sent to the line and converts both to give the Spurs a one point lead, Julian Champagnie buries the 3-pointer on San Antonio’s next possession to stretch that lead to four. 47-43 SA.
2:23 – After Keldon Johnson puts San Antonio back ahead by two with a triple, Landry Shamet responds with a triple of his own to put New York back ahead by one. If this first half is what we get out of the rest of the Finals, we could be in for an all-time treat. 43-42 NYK.
4:20 – HERE COMES JALEN BRUNSON. After cutting the Spurs’ lead to a point on the ensuing possession, he converts again from close range and puts the Knicks back on top. Six straight points for Brunson immediately after an injury scare just proves what a warrior this guy can be. 38-37 NYK.
5:35 – The Knicks avoid crisis again as Brunson stays in the game, and he tips the ball in on a second chance attempt to cut the Spurs lead to three again. 37-34 SA.
5:55 – Devin Vassell extends the Spurs’ lead to five with a 3-pointer, but Jalen Brunson is hobbled again after rolling his ankle on Luke Kornet. Brunson is irate as he limps back to the bench, and the Knicks are back in a precarious position here once again. 37-32 SA.
7:26 – MITCHELL ROBINSON! With a broken finger, the Knicks big man elevates and slams on Luke Kornet and gets the foul to boot. Robinson, who struggles from the line, can’t convert the free throw attempt. Still, the Knicks are back within 1 after a disastrous finish to the first quarter. 31-30 SA.
8:03 – Right as Jalen Brunson makes his way up to the scorers table to check back into the game, Karl-Anthony Towns takes hard contact from Victor Wembanyama and stays down in obvious pain. Towns seems fine after a moment and will probably stay in the game, but the Spurs are challenging the call on Wembanyama. 31-28 SA.
9:20 – Alvarado snakes his way into the paint again and converts for New York, cutting the Spurs lead to three. Both teams are taking punches and both teams are swinging right back. 31-28 SA.
10:32 – The Knicks start the quarter on a 5-0 run, as Deuce McBride hits from beyond the arc and Jose Alvarado converts a crafty finish inside on consecutive possessions. Jalen Brunson is back on the bench for the Knicks too, so things are starting to swing back in the right direction for them. 27-24 SA.
First Quarter
0:00 – After trailing 14-7, San Antonio closes the first quarter on a 20-5 run and exits the first quarter with an eight point advantage. Despite the fast start from the Knicks, they finish just 8-of-24 from the field in the first quarter. 27-19 SA.
1:10 – After Harper drives to the basket and extends the Spurs lead to ten points, the ABC broadcast pans to Jalen Brunson walking down the tunnel for further evaluation on his knee. Not great. 27-17 SA.
2:03 – Oh no. Jalen Brunson is favoring his knee after the 3-pointer by Champagnie and he’ll exit the game. It doesn’t appear to be ultra serious at first glance, but it goes without saying that this is catastrophic timing for any injury of that nature to occur. Brunson is 1-of-7 from the field with 3 points at the time of his exit. 25-17 SA.
2:03 – CHAMPAGNIE AGAIN. Another 3-pointer puts San Antonio ahead by eight and the Game 7 hero is starting to roll. 25-17 SA.
3:01 – Landry Shamet cuts the Spurs’ lead back down to two and ends the run with a 3-pointer, but WCF Game 7 hero Julian Champagnie drills his first 3-pointer of the night in response and the Spurs go back ahead by five. 22-17 SA.
3:25 – Dylan Harper again! He hits from beyond the arc this time and the Spurs are now ahead by five points thanks to a 12-0 run, with seven in a row coming from Harper. The momentum has flipped entirely. 19-14 SA.
3:58 – How about Dylan Harper? The rook scores five straight points, cutting the Knicks’ lead to one at the free throw line before converting a go-ahead and-one on the Spurs’ next trip down the court. First lead of the night for the San Antonio, and they are red hot. 15-14 SA.
5:27 – Stephon Castle pulls up from close range to bring the Spurs back within five before getting to the line on San Antonio’s next possession, where he converts both to draw his team within three. The Spurs have had a counter for both punches thrown by New York so far. 14-11 NYK.
7:00 – Four straight points from Karl-Anthony Towns puts the Knicks back ahead by seven. The Knicks have gotten points from four of their five starters so far. 14-7 NYK.
8:20 – There’s Wemby. San Antonio’s Alien hits a triple of his own for his first points of the night and the Spurs are right back within striking distance early. 10-7 NYK.
10:00 – The Knicks hot start continues with five straight points from OG Anunoby, who converts from 3-point range and inside the paint on his first two attempts. 8-2 NYK.
11:42 – Who else but Jalen Brunson to get things started for New York? He buries the triple on the Knicks’ opening possession and we’re off at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. 3-0 NYK.
Editor’s Pick
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