Top Takeaways from 2026 NBA Finals Game 1 Between New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs
After taking Game 1 of the NBA Finals from the San Antonio Spurs, 105-95, the New York Knicks and Jalen Brunson are three victories away from proving everybody wrong.
Oh, and also from winning the franchise's first title since 1973.ย
To be sure, this is far from the only lesson learned Wednesday night. The San Antonio Spurs are still in this. They led for most of Game 1. Rookie Dylan Harper was electric. Julian Champagnie was surface-of-the-sun hot for an entire half. Rumor has it the Spurs still employ this Victor Wembanyama guy, too.
This series is already a doozy. Let's run through our biggest takeaways and reactions from the opening clash.
Karl-Anthony Towns is the Victor Wembanyama Foil
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Karl-Anthony Towns' efforts in Game 1 proved yet again that his offensive gravity is the best possible foil to Victor Wembanyama's defense.
Sure, KAT's stat line was nice: 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and one block. Other than a third-quarter stint in which he picked up three quick fouls, he turned in another solid defensive performance.
Still, Towns' gravitational pull away from the basket gave San Antonio the most problems. Wemby can't roam as freely when he's guarding KAT. And the Knicks did a good job of ensuring that he needed to do that. He played up when Towns had the ball and still needed to account for him when he didn't.
Driving and cutting lanes opened up as a result. Wemby forced plenty of veer-outs and low-quality looks anyway. But New York shot 12-of-18 in the restricted area (66.7 percent) with Towns and the Spurs' 7'4" alien on the court. For reference, entering Game 1, San Antonio's playoff opponents were shooting 54.3 percent at the rim with Wembanyama on the floor.
While the Spurs can and will do more to move Wemby off Towns, it gets a lot harder to cross-match if KAT is holding his own versus Wembanyama on defense. He did that in Game 1, just as he did during the regular season.
If we're not having the "KAT is Wemby Kryptonite" discussion already, it's time to start.
Dylan Harper is Already the Spurs' Second-Best Player
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San Antonio's may have all along planned for Dylan Harper to be its second-best player at some point. But there is no way "at some point" was supposed to be before the end of his rookie season.
Harper pumped in 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting while drawing four fouls during his Game 1 action. The Knicks' defense did not have a great answer for him. Bad second half and all, he has a combination of live-dribble strength, poise and change-of-speed that makes no sense.ย
On one possession, the rookie moved OG Anunoby like he was a paperweight. On another, he hit a baseline reverse layup that defied the laws of physics. He has the rotation of a cyclone with the under-control serenity of a warm, windless summer's night.
Because that's apparently not good enough, Harper's on-ball scoring oomph is packaged neatly alongside stout defense. The Spurs have a superior stopper in Stephon Castle, but Harper can provide tons of ball pressure himself and is a staple on the glass, so often beating out bigger bodies for his boards. (He had eight rebounds in Game 1.)
Shaky outside shooting is among Harper's only issues. He hit more of his threes post-All-Star break and was at 36.4 percent for the playoffs entering Game 1. But he was 1-of-4 from distance Wednesday night and can be hesitant to fire away after a bad miss.
Perhaps that's why head coach Mitch Johnson remains more apt to close with De'Aaron Fox or Devin Vassell. Or maybe the head honcho believes Fox's ball control is too important.
Whatever the reasoning, Harper is already good enough to debate whether it's the right call. The second-best player of the Spurs' future is also their second-best player right now.
The Biggest X-factors are Exactly Who We Thought They Were
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All of us are free to take a victory lap as a family. We correctly identified the biggest swing factors before the series ever tipped off.
Will Josh Hart hit enough threes to keep San Antonio's defense honest? And if not, will he do enough of the dirty work to warrant playing over Landry Shamet? In Game 1, he didn't hit enough threes (0-of-3). But he did more than enough as a playmaker, rebounder, pace-pusher and defender to finish a team-high plus-22.
Will the Knicks need to call Shamet's number? Can he hang against the Spurs' cast of crafty and/or physical guards if they do? The answer was yes on both accounts. Shamet hit the deck at times on defense, but he scrapped and clawed while getting up threes, moving away from the ball and logging more minutes on the Knicks than anyone other than Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson.
Are the Luke Kornet minutes going to be viable for the Spurs? Not this time. The Knicks put Brunson on the floor for every one of Kornet's 10 minutes, during which time they posted an offensive rating of 136.4. San Antonio was only able to lean on its backup big man for 45 seconds in the fourth quarter.
Does New York have an answer to Julian Champagnie going scorched earth? And can he continue to make pretty much every three? Yes and no. The Knicks didn't have an answer to Champagnie making five threes and posted a plus-nine in the first half. But as it turns out, he won't stay molten forever. He was 0-for-4 from distance in the second half when New York played him tighter and coaxed him into more off-balance looks.
Will Keldon Johnson be consistent enough to prevent the Spurs from dusting off Harrison Barnes? That would be a no. Barnes wound up playing over four minutes in the final frame while Johnson watched from the pine
Jose Alvarado is the closest we got to a surprise development. Brunson's knee and ankle stingers paved the way for him to rack up 11 minutes. He proved to be one of their better pace-pushers.
The Spurs May Need to Rethink Their Approach
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Two potential rotation adjustments should be under consideration for Mitch Johnson ahead of Game 2.
First and perhaps foremost, he may need to rely on Dylan Harper even more. At the very least, he should look at having him close games over De'Aaron Fox or Devin Vassell, who combined to go 7-of-24 from the field in Game 1.
Demoting Fox in the bigger moments can be a tough sell. He is mission-critical to the Spurs, limiting their turnovers in the half-court. But it's equally tough to portray him as indispensable when he's not hitting shots and when the Knicks' offense feels more comfortable attacking him than Harper.
Benching Vassell in favor of Harper is probably the middle ground. Then again, between him, Harper, Fox and Stephon Castle, he's the most decorated floor-spacer. Regardless, after the starters notched an offensive rating under 90 for Game 1, it's worth contemplating changes.
The Spurs should also revisit no-big arrangements whenever Wemby's catching a breather. This isn't going to be a Luke Kornet series as long as the Knicks are mirroring Brunson's minutes.
Going with rookie Carter Bryant instead is somewhat harrowing with Karl-Anthony Towns or Mitchell Robinson on the floor. But the increased defensive versatility and aggression might limit the damage without Wemby, if not buy San Antonio's superstar a few more beats of rest.
Jalen Brunson is Good Enough to Win It All
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Some variation of "Jalen Brunson isn't good enough or big enough to be the best player on a title team" has cropped up in #TheDiscourse ever since he entered his stardom phase. Whether it's Paul Pierce, Becky Hammon, scores of anonymous commenters or your own inner monologue, JB's height and proximity to megastars like Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokiฤ are used as proof he and the Knicks can't win this way.
So much for that.
Brunson already enjoys a level of vindication for reaching the Finals. This says nothing of the Knicks winning 12 consecutive playoff games with him at the helm.
Game 1 wasn't Brunson's cleanest performance. He shot 12-of-31 from the floor, including 2-of-9 from three, and he had more turnovers (four) than assists (two). The Knicks won his minutes by six points anyway, because he remains integral even when struggling. And also because he's a fourth-quarter deity:
Brunson scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the final frame (aka Jalen Time). He went at Julian Champagnie, hit a few of his trademark ultra-difficult looks and drew Wemby a little further away from the hoop off his dribble penetration.
With the exception of the first quarter, Brunson also ensured the Knicks made the most of the DPOY's time on the bench. Through just over 10 minutes of Wemby-less action, JB and New York outscored the Spurs by seven points and posted a 136.4 offensive rating.
This is the Brunson experience in a nutshell. It is seldom perfect or stress-free. More often than not, though, he figures out a way to reach the peak of his powers no later than when the Knicks need it most.
And if that holds true through the NBA Finals, against this Wemby-led defense, he'll have both a championship trophy and total vindication to show for it.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to theย Hardwood Knocksย podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report'sย Grant Hughes.
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