On Friday local time, the New York Knicks edged the San Antonio Spurs 105-104 on the road, taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Team star Jalen Brunson afterward credited the win to "grinding every day and trying to be our best"—the Knicks are answering years of pent-up expectations across New York in their closest posture to the Larry O'Brien Trophy since their 1973 championship.
Back-to-back road wins keep drawing historical parallels
The Knicks became just the third team in NBA history to win the first two Finals games entirely on the road, joining the 1993 Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan and the 1995 Houston Rockets—both of whom went on to win the title. In the postseason, the Knicks have extended their winning streak to 13 games, the second-longest run in NBA playoff history. With the scoreline and numbers stacking up, social media chatter about a "championship template" and "New York parade" heated up quickly, but the tone inside the locker room did not match the temperature on the streets.
Brunson resets expectations: treat the next game as 0-0
"Even if the series is 2-0, you've got to approach the next game as 0-0," Brunson said. "You can't get comfortable. You can't be satisfied. You just have to keep pushing forward." The comments were widely shared on social media and juxtaposed by fans against scenes of celebration outside Madison Square Garden: large contingents of Knicks fans traveled to the Frost Bank Center for both of the first two games, and ticket prices for Games 3 and 4 at home have surged; after Game 2, roughly 6,000 people joined a watch party where celebrations spiraled out of control—police said one officer was assaulted and 26 people were arrested. The narrow win on television and the disorder outside the arena added a layer of "hype and risk" to this matchup beyond the one-point margin.
Spurs not backing down: Wembanyama and Castle hold the line
If New York is already picturing a championship parade, the Knicks remain locked in on this young Spurs team. Led by 22-year-old French center Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio posted the league’s second-best regular-season record and needed seven games to get past defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. Inexperience showed in the first two games, but Brunson offered a warning: “From what I know about them, they have another gear. We have to be ready to match it and go the full 48 minutes.” Spurs guard Stephon Castle didn’t blink either: “You always have to leave everything on the floor to win a series. It’s hard to be in this spot, but I don’t think it’s anything we can’t handle.”
G3 Watch: A One-Point Game and Less Margin for Error on a 13-Game Streak
A 105-104 final showed San Antonio can push games to the wire; the Knicks’ 13-game winning streak only narrows the margin for error in Game 3. For New York, the real test isn’t whether it can handle the euphoria—it’s whether it can bring its road edge back to MSG and hold on to the “0-0” mindset Brunson has preached. If the Spurs rediscover the toughness they showed in the Western Conference Finals at home, this series is far from decided.
