The New York Knicks held on late Friday night to take down the San Antonio Spurs 105-104 and take a 2-0 Finals lead.
Game 1 was certainly competitive, but Friday’s matchup was significantly more physical. The extremely high pace combined with gritty defense from both teams resulted in a thrilling game of small scoring runs.
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The first quarter was a close battle until De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs pulled together a run and took a 34-25 lead after 12 minutes.
As the intensity continued to heat up, so did New York’s offense in the second quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns was doing a little bit of everything for the Knicks, all while holding Victor Wembanyama to just seven second-half points.
By halftime, the momentum had shifted completely and New York led by four.
In the third quarter, Wembanyama recovered well and came alive on offense. At the same time, his teammates went cold and struggled to get their own offense going.
Meanwhile, the Knicks maintained a blistering pace and their dynamic offense kept them in front. They entered the final frame with a nine-point advantage.
For the early portion of the fourth quarter, the Knicks took a 12-point lead and looked like they could run away with the game. But midway through, San Antonio flipped the switch.
For over three minutes, the Spurs kept the Knicks from scoring while getting buckets of their own on the other end. Frost Bank Center was deafening as San Antonio tied the game with a 14-0 scoring run.
With over two minutes to go, O.G. Anunoby broke the cold spell with three free throws after being fouled on a long-range attempt.
After Wembanyama responded with an alley-oop slam, the Knicks went back up by three with a layup off an inbounds play.
With 90 seconds to play, Towns was called for a goaltend and San Antonio cut the lead to one.
After forcing a Knicks turnover, Dylan Harper found Wembanyama coming downhill. He finished the play with an and-one layup, sinking the free throw to go up by two.
Much like he’s done throughout the postseason, Jalen Brunson came through when it mattered most. He hit a game-tying mid-range jumper with less than 40 seconds to play.
On the other end, Wembanyama missed a crucial fadeaway jumper that would have taken the lead. Anunoby came down with the major defensive rebound and gave the Knicks possession.
With just over 24 seconds to play, Wembanyama played strong defense against Brunson and secured the rebound off the miss. But Brunson grabbed the steal after a bad pass and Wembanyama was called for a foul as he tried to recover the ball.
In the bonus, Brunson sank one of two free throws and the Spurs came up with possession after the out-of-bounds call. They had one more opportunity, down by one with 7.5 seconds to play.
They quickly went to Wembanyama, but he couldn’t get the mid-range jumper to fall and the Knicks held on for the win.
Towns led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Brunson and Mikal Bridges each put up 20 points.
For the Spurs, Wembanyama had 29 points and nine rebounds while Fox put up 20 points and five assists.
The series now heads to New York with the Knicks ahead 2-0.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
