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The 2026 NBA Finals are set: it’s a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks. The last time these two teams met in the Finals, the Spurs swept an eighth-seeded Knicks squad. The Spurs were led by a young Tim Duncan—who won Finals MVP in just his second season—and David Robinson. Meanwhile, the Knicks’ Patrick Ewing missed the series due to an injury suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals.

27 years later, each team looks different. The Spurs are led by the youngest DPOY in history, Victor Wembanyama, along with Castle, Harper, and Fox. The Knicks are led by their superstar, Jalen Brunson, along with the best starting five of Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Mitchell Robinson or Josh Hart depeding on the lineup.

These two teams went even in the regular season, with Game 1, which was on New Year’s Eve, with the Spurs beating the Knicks 134-132, with Champagnie dropping 36 points. The second meeting went in the Knicks, blowing out the Spurs 114-89 with Mikal dropping 25 points. They met in the NBA Cup finals, where the Knicks took down the Spurs 124-113 to win it all with OG dropping 28 points in the win.

What each team needs to do in order to win Game 1

Spurs: For the Spurs to win this game—or even the Finals—they will need Wemby to play at a high level, unlike some of the games against OKC. He must find ways to contend with Mitchell Robinson, who ranks fifth in the league in offensive rebounds at 4.2 per game. Wemby will also need to navigate the defense of OG or Mikal, as Towns likely won’t guard him most of the time. If Towns does guard Wemby, drawing fouls on him could be crucial, since Towns is prone to foul trouble.

They will need to figure out a way to stop Jalen Brunson. Brunson is a threat offensively, so Fox or Castle will be guarding him, and it will be a tough guard similar to Shai. He’s a guy who will punish a defender if they reach in when he’s trying to get to his spot. Unlike Shai, he’s not a good defender, so whoever is guarding him will more than likely have an easy time getting past him, but this team is built to help that weakness with Mikal, OG, and Hart.

Offensively, the Spurs will need to find ways to keep the ball in their hands. Castle struggled to control the ball in the OKC series until Fox returned as the primary ball handler. They still need to be careful because this Knicks team punishes teams on turnover, scoring 20 points in the playoffs and only allowing their opponents 14 points. So watch out for OG and Mikal, who averaged over 1 steal per game in the regular season. Attack Towns as he’s known to get in foul trouble, so that takes pressure off your defense.

Defensively, they need to find a way out how to stop Jalen Brunson. If you can stop him thats takes away the Knicks’ offensive engine, and if Kat is in foul trouble, then you don’t have to worry about anyone else too much. They will also need to find a way to make sure this Knicks bench doesn’t have a good game, because if they get the same Shamet or Hart on offense as the Cavs faced in the East Finals, then it will be hard to limit Jalen and Kat on offense.

Knicks: For the Knicks to win, they will need to figure out ways around the defense that Jalen Brunson will face in this series. The Knicks’ offense is not as threatening without him; they could still win without him having a good but it would be a tougher battle. The Spurs will most likely do the same thing as they did when guarding Shai.

Kat will need to find ways to stay out of foul trouble in this series. He’s a target for any offensive player who likes to attack the rim, so he will need to be on his A-game when guarding Wemby or the paint in general. He will need to find ways to get around Wemby, so attacking Wemby will be key. Kat is someone who’s bigger than Wemby, so attacking Wemby will be necessary because Kat could get Wemby in foul trouble early on.

Offensively, if the Knicks can get the same performance they got out of Shamet in the East finals, that will be a boost to this bench that isn’t as deep as the Spurs’ bench. If Jalen has an off night from scoring because he can’t figure out a way around the Spurs’ defense, then OG or Mikal will have to step up in his absence. We’ve seen both players demonstrate the ability to impact the games offensively in the regular season and playoffs.

Defensively, the Knicks need to go after Castle because he’s been the weak link so far for the Spurs. They need to force turnover on Castle whenever he has the ball in his hands. The Thunder did it and worked, forcing Castle to turn over the ball 20 times in the first two games. They will also need to figure out who is the best at defending Wemby because Kat can’t be guarding him all series long. So OG will most likely have that assignment, because he can guard all five positions. If Kat is guarding Wemby all game, then Wemby will feast.

Predictions

My prediction for this series is the Knicks winning in 6, but it’s not unbelievable if the Spurs take it 7 and potentially win. The reason why is that I believe defenders like OG and Mikal can limit Wemby’s impact on the game, and if they aren’t guarding him, the other Spurs players will have a hard time getting around two elite defenders. I also believe this is the best starting five in the league.

So for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I have the Spurs winning Game 1, 123-119. Wemby goes for 34 points with 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks in an overtime thriller.

Game 1 of the NBA finals will be played at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. The game will start at 7:30 PM CT on June 3, 2026, and you can watch it on ABC/ESPN.