Category: NBA

For a while now, I thought I was watching a very specific kind of story. An underdog with tenacity. A chosen one on the rise. An ascension. A coming-of-age. A fairy tale, maybe. The details were always a little hazy, but the protagonist was never in question. It was the Spurs. It just felt right. Every moment had meaning. Every setback only served the cause. The signs were everywhere if you knew how to read them. Our time had come. Our story was happening in real time, right in front of our eyes.

Somewhere in the third quarter, down fourteen, I started to wonder if I’d maybe wandered into the wrong theater.

I felt like I was drowning. Every Spurs possession was happening at warp speed. Shots went up quick and bounced out. Layups lipped out. Drives sputtered. The ball found its way into Knick hands before I could even process what was happening, and then suddenly everything was headed the other way.

These Knicks possessions, though. Those were like getting punched in slow motion. Just haymaker after haymaker and, sure, you could see every one coming but your arms were moving through molasses. There’s nothing to be done except to just sit there and take it. Then everything speeds up again and you’re dizzy from that last punch but, oops, another three just rattled out and the Knicks are headed back up the court again.

I was exhausted. I was dizzy. And I was starting to get the distinct impression that, in whatever version of this story I thought I was watching, this is not how it was supposed to go.

Much to my chagrin, I could not stop focusing on the Knicks fans in the crowd. They were making me insane. Not, like, a little annoyed. Insane. Seriously, every time a bunch of blue and orange hands went up after another bucket, it was like a galactic five-year-old found a bruise on my arm and just kept poking it. I felt like I was in my living room trying to grieve the demise of an old friend and a bunch of drunk guys were screaming BING BONG KNICKS IN FOUR BABY directly into my ear canal.

Get out of our house, you absolute ghouls.

I know. I know. It wasn’t really about them. Whatever. It’s just that it felt unfair in the specific way that life feels really unfair sometimes, when something wrong is happening right in front of you and there’s no one to appeal to and no rule being broken and it’s just happening. Why? Because.

But here’s the thing. I was so busy being mad at them for acting like they belonged there that I didn’t stop to consider why they were so sure they did.

Maybe they knew something I didn’t.

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I turned the sound off with around 11 minutes left in the game. A tried and true tactic I’ve used for as long as I can remember when Sports has gotten a little too real for my taste. Something about the silence makes it seem more palatable. Like I can finally breathe and think for a second. Sometimes it’s just nice not to have to listen to Richard Jefferson anymore.

Wembanyama hit a three. That wasn’t going to fool me though. No sir. This whole game had been defined by the Spurs getting purchase on a cliff face before immediately tumbling back down a few feet and starting over. Castle got in for a pretty good dunk. Wemby blocked Hart. Their shots weren’t really falling anymore, but this wasn’t real. This was just the death rattle.

Harper with a bucket.

I’m telling you, watching this play out in silence was surreal. I obviously wasn’t going to turn the sound back on and mess with whatever favor I’d earned with the gods to inspire the run. Still, it was as if I was standing on the other side of the glass watching all of this happen to someone else. I wanted to scream or shout or bang on the window, but all I could do was stare. Mouth agape. Silently trying to will something into existence just by wanting it enough.

Our crowd was going nuts. The Knicks fans were, finally, mercifully, joining me in a silent vigil.

The score was tied. Three minutes left. Were they actually going to do this? They’d spent all night searching for answers and had they now, against all odds, finally found some? Victor took two steps, covered about a hundred feet of ground, and laid it in. The Spurs were winning. They were winning this game. Winning this series. Potentially never going to lose again.

Maybe this was our story after all. It’s wins all the way down, baby!

Wembanyama grabbing that board off the Brunson miss with 12 seconds left was the first time I actually let myself believe they were going to pull this off. The two best players on the court had just stared each other down, one on one, and Vic had prevailed. We were going to go back up, score, and dance off into the night. The story had been written. Our fate had been sealed. The stars were aligned.

Fate, it turns out, has a pretty funny sense of humor.

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Before the game, Wembanyama was asked in French about this team’s habit of finding solutions only after running into problems. As usual, the frankness of his assessment kind of caught me off guard.

“We’re kind of like spoiled kids,” he said. “For some of us, it’s our first season and we’re already in the Finals. We don’t fully realize it yet. And to me, the team that appreciates the position we’re in the most will be the one that wins.”

Two games in, the Knicks look like they know exactly where they are.

How could they not? This is a franchise that has spent the better part of three decades being a punchline. Draft picks that didn’t pan out. Superstars that chose somewhere else. Stars that arrived and immediately got hurt. An owner who, at times, seemed to be actively working against his own team.

Last year, this group got within two wins of this exact moment and then Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers ripped their hearts out.

Twenty-seven years of almost and now here they are, back in San Antonio. In the Finals. In our building. Their fans look deliriously happy and their players look like they’re on a mission from God. They all look like they’ve been waiting their whole lives for this moment.

Maybe this is the story we’ve really been watching all along.

It could be as simple as that.

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Takeaways

• I’m willing to live in a world where I’m being too cynical about all this. The Spurs found something in that fourth quarter that looked real, and crazier things have happened. That said, down 0-2 heading to a Garden that is going to be absolutely feral is a lot. It’s not impossible. It’s just a lot. It’s….yeah, a lot.
• Victor looked absolutely gassed all game. Right up until he didn’t! Still, I feel like I’ve seen him miss a ton of shots he normally makes in this series and it’s for sure a little disconcerting. The biggest thing the fourth quarter showed is that this Spurs team is invincible when Wemby is looking invincible. When he’s not, well, they get pretty vincible all of a sudden. This is something that somehow continues to seem profound even though we’ve been learning it over and over again for about three years now.
• The Luke Kornet rebound off the missed Brunson free throw is an all-time moment that is going to be lost to history and I am furious about it. They put him in to do exactly one thing and he did it. He reached into a tangle of legs and limbs and came out with the basketball, somehow without stepping out of bounds. It was as stunning a play as his chase-down block in the OKC series. It deserved a better ending. Alas.
• Part of me thinks Fox should have taken that last shot. I can’t fully explain it. It just felt like that was going to be his moment. That’s why we brought him here. Everyone in the building knew Wemby was getting the ball, so why not shock the world? He had the shot, didn’t he? I’ll never know because I refuse to watch that sequence again, but in my heart I think he had it.
• Feels bad, y’all. Feels real bad right now.
• Spurs in 7.

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WWL Post Game Press Conference

Have you ever actually walked into the wrong theater for a movie?

No, that seems borderline impossible. I did used to like, double dip at the theater all the time back in the day when there was nothing else really going on. It felt like once you’d given your ticket to the guy up front you really could just hang out back there in the bowels of a Regal Cinemas for days on end.

So you’d just watch multiple movies?

Sure, or just like, a double feature or something.

What was your best double feature?

My favorite one, for sure, was a combination of Mission Impossible 2 followed by Shanghai Noon. Cinema! I was a man of culture. I’ve never felt more artistically fulfilled.

You really don’t want to keep talking about that Spurs game do you?

I really don’t.

The biggest question of the Lakers’ offseason, at least from a pure monetary standpoint, is how much money are they willing to pay Austin Reaves?

Not how the rest of the team’s internal organizational restructuring will pan out.

Not even whether LeBron James will return for a 24th NBA season, and whether he’ll play for the Lakers for a ninth season — a decision that will have significant league-wide ramifications.

Reports have stated that Reaves — an expected unrestricted free agent once he declines his $14.9 million player option — wants a maximum contract worth $239 million across five seasons ($47.8 million average annual salary) and is not willing to take a hometown discount.

If the Lakers aren’t willing to go that high, they must explain to Reaves the reasoning if it means building a title-winning roster around him and Luka Doncic.

By comparison, the maximum contract another team could pay Reaves is $178 million over four seasons ($44.5 million average annual salary).

The Lakers want Reaves back. As they should after he’s proved to be an All-Star — and borderline All-NBA — caliber player.

And Reaves wants to return to the only NBA he’s known for the first five seasons of his NBA career.

In this sense, the sides are on the same page.

Where they may differ is the Lakers wanting to pay Reaves the least amount of money to bring him back to the franchise, looking to maximize their financial flexibility and optionality. And Reaves’ representatives, understandably, will negotiate for the most amount of money Reaves, 28, can make as he enters the prime of his career with his best chance of what will likely be the largest contract of his career.

If Reaves, or his representatives, not only want but demand the max deal they can get from the Lakers, the franchise without hesitation should pay it.

At face value, a $239 million contract for a player who hasn’t made an All-Star or All-NBA team may be difficult to fathom.

But in the modern NBA, it’s in line with what players of Reaves’ caliber command on the open market.

Reaves’ maximum salary for 2026-27 of approximately $41.2 million would make him somewhere around the 36th- to 40th-highest-paid player in the league for next season.

That salary would be in the same ballpark of Thunder wing Jalen Williams ($41.2 million), Thunder big man Chet Holmgren and Magic forward Paolo Banchero, a tad above Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. ($40.8 million) and a little below Clippers guard Darius Garland ($42.2 million), Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.

Reaves isn’t better than all of these players. But he’s better than a fair amount of them.

He ranked 30th in actual estimated plus-minus (EPM) for 2025-26 according to Dunks & Threes. And he was one of 20 players to average at least 23 points, five assists and four rebounds in 2025-26.

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And before the multiple calf injuries that slowed down his season, Reaves was averaging 27.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds.

There’s also the Doncic factor, and the reality that Reaves has proved to be a good fit alongside the Lakers superstar.

The Lakers outscored opponents by an elite margin of nine points per 100 possessions in 2025-26 when Doncic and Reaves shared the floor, up from 7.7 points per 100 possessions in 2024-25. Doncic’s history with Jalen Brunson and Kyrie Irving when with the Mavericks showed that putting him alongside another talented perimeter creator is a formula proven to work.

And Reaves has shown he’s that caliber of player.

He isn’t a perfect player. He has to be more durable after playing a career-low 51 games in 2025-26, and having back-to-back playoff runs impacted by injuries. Max players aren’t judged by what they do during the regular season, but more so in the playoffs, where Reaves’ catch-and-shoot 3-point shooting has dipped three consecutive years.

But the Lakers can’t risk losing a player the caliber of Reaves for nothing. Especially not while they have Doncic, who’s in the prime of his career and ready to contend for championship now. Losing his co-star would be a backward step during a period the Lakers can’t afford to do so.

If Reaves and his representatives are willing to sign a contract with the Lakers for an annual salary that’s less than the maximum Reaves can receive, the franchise should consider that a gift. Especially after Reaves has been significantly underpaid for the last four seasons.

Yes, the significant pay raise for Reaves will make building a championship caliber roster around him and Doncic more challenging. But that’s the reality and challenge franchises sign up for when they have high-caliber players on their roster.

“[Reaves] started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Lakers president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka said after the season. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the Purple and Gold. There’s rules and timing to all of that but I think both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”

And if the Lakers truly feel the way Pelinka says they do, they’ll pay Reaves — what he wants and what he’s worth. 

He’s a Knicks-tradamus.

A Long Islander went viral this week for predicting the Knicks’ NBA Finals run in his 2020 high school yearbook.

Evan Pfeufer of Kings Park shared a photo Thursday of his quote in Smithtown High School West’s yearbook, “Knicks in 6. 2026 NBA Finals” — and it racked up more than 5 million views in one day.

The now-23-year-old told The Post how he decided on the very specific prediction.

“It’s so simple. Knicks in six 2026 rhymes so incredibly well,” he said.

The Knicks superfan recalled his parents’ disappointment when he showed them the book six years ago.

“It was so funny, my parents were like, ‘Evan, why?’ Why would you do this?'” he said.

Now, they are reconsidering, and likening their son to a modern-day Nostradamus.

“My dad is questioning if I’m a human or not,” he said.

Pfeufer, whose impressive high school resume included serving as an officer in the Business Honor Society, purposely chose not to include any of his accomplishments on his yearbook page in order for his Knicks quote to stand out.

“They gave us an option, and I said, ‘No, I just want this,'” he recalled.

“Hand over Bible, I purposely didn’t put my honor societies and all the stuff I got because I was like, ‘What if this actually happens? Everybody else has this long a– quote with all their achievements, and me, I would get it right.'”

As it started looking like his 2020 prediction could actually come to fruition, he texted his childhood friend a photo of the yearbook page

“And I was like, ‘Imagine if this happens,'” he said.

He then posted it on his private Snapchat page and his friends encouraged him to share it on a larger platform, so he submitted it to the sports Instagram account Overtime, which boasts 10.4 million followers, and it “instantly” went viral.

Pfeufer, who graduated from Adelphi University and now works as a sales rep, is hoping the post grabs the attention of the Knicks.

“My friend said, ‘If the Knicks don’t get you to one of the games or something, I would be livid,'” he said.

“I don’t expect anything, I’m just a guy with a prediction, but it would be pretty cool.”

The Knicks have his back.

Staten Islander Matt McAllister has a Mount Rushmore of Knicks greats inked across his back — including current MVP Jalen Brunson.

And when McAllister took his shirt off to reveal the jaw-dropping tattoo to Brunson himself, the captain was stunned.

“He seems like he’s a guy of very little words . . . but he was like, ‘Oh, that’s hard,'” McAllister, 34, told The Post.

“Then he said, ‘But Rushmore’s only got four.’

“So I told him I had to add an extra just for him.”

Then shocked star guard Josh Hart “pulled out his phone. He’s like, ‘I gotta take a photo of this. Holy s–t!'”

McAllister presented the over-the-top tat — also featuring legends John Starks, Walt Frazier, Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony — to Brunson and Hart in September at a meet-and-greet for the duo’s Roommates Block Party.

McAllister said the idea for the All-Star artwork came last season when the Knicks finished 51-31, but lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals — a round short of the NBA Finals. 

“After that run we had last year, I was like, ‘Wow, this is really monumental. Let me think of a monument that I can honor everybody with.'”

The tat cost $9,000 and took 36 hours over six sessions to make. MSG was there to capture it for a commercial.

“I might only see this once in my lifetime again. I have no regrets,” he said.

Other Knicks superfans have opted for leg tattoos of the “King of New York.”

Ray Rosado, a native of Yonkers, got a $1,350 leg tattoo of Brunson two days after the Knicks lost the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, “because I had a feeling they would go to the finals this year,” he said.

His tattoo artist warned him against the very permanent decision.

“He said, ‘You know, if you get it and they don’t go to the finals, it’s going to still be on your body,'” Rosado recalled.

Rosado, 33, a teacher at New Rochelle High School — whose students alerted him when his tattoo went viral — explained why he chose the photo of Captain Clutch praying during Game 1 of last year’s conference finals.

“I’m not really religious myself, but I felt that was the moment to symbolize that great things are coming your way. You just have to wait for that moment. And that’s all that Brunson has been talking about this year, that the job’s not finished yet,” he said.

Nolan Parr of Queens got inked on May 23, two days before the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals to make it to the final round.

The native of Red Hook in Dutchess County, NY — who went with a $800 tattoo of the three-time NBA All-Star doing his signature thumb-and-index finger move — has been a fan since he’s “been in diapers.”

“Because my father was a diehard Knicks fan from back in the day. So it’s always the classic, ‘Who’s better Clyde or Jalen,’ between me and him,” Parr, 32, said.

Mirko Falzone of Bergamo, Italy, has never even been to a Knicks game, but in October, decided to get a huge tattoo of Brunson’s face on his leg, along with a smaller full-body image of the MVP on the court in his No. 11 jersey.

Falzone, 32, was always a fan of the NBA, but wasn’t watching regularly until Brunson joined the roster in 2022, and since Italy is ahead of New York by six hours, he’s been waking up at 2 a.m. to catch him playing.

“When Jalen Brunson arrived to New York, my passion came back,” he said. “And the desire to stay awake during the night here in Italy to watch the games.”

But in Italy, most have no clue who’s on his leg.

“Everyone here only knows LeBron James, Wembanyama,” he said, laughing. “Someone asked if it was Travis Scott.”

I used to live in New York, Brooklyn to be exact. I remember how expensive it was compared to San Antonio, where I grew up and currently live. Over a decade ago, I paid rent on an 800 square foot apartment that to this day is more expensive than the mortgage on my house.

New York is a hub of culture — concerts, theater, symphonies, operas — but it will cost you.

Right now, there is no hotter ticket available than the NBA Finals. At last search, ticket prices continue to rise.

NBA Finals ticket prices are out of control 😵‍💫 – @JoeRaineri

Real Knicks fans are getting priced out. Game 3 tickets are around $8.2K for nosebleeds, Game 4 starts at $8.5K, and Game 6 tops $9K. That's more expensive than Super Bowl and World Cup tickets. Insane… pic.twitter.com/1mSHomqJKA

— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) June 5, 2026

Game 3’s “get in” price is $8,200 for a nosebleed seat. That’s a $700 rise since Thursday alone. Game 4 starts at $8,500 and entry to a possible Game 6 will run you $9,000. That’s more than a Super Bowl ticket or even a seat at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

On Thursday, the NBA held media day for both the Spurs and Knicks. Jalen Brunson got this question:

“I know you’re focused on tomorrow, but you know New York is going crazy for everything that you guys do. Ticket prices have been ridiculous. Last night after you guys won, they went crazy higher. There was a report that in the last row of the Garden, there are seats on sale for $7,500. What show would you pay that amount of money to go see?”

Brunson took a minute. His beathe was audible as he considered the premise.

“That’s a good question. A live Michael Jackson performance. That’s a good one. That’s a good one.”

Brunson smirked as he responded, revealing he was really taken aback by the question. His answer also reveals he some respectable old school tastes. Michael Jackson was one one of the greatest and most popular music artists, he was an amazing performer. To this day, Thriller remains the best selling album of all time.

For perspective, a ticket to see Michael Jackson in 1984 cost roughly $30, considered high at the time. In 1988, a ticket to see his Bad world tour at London’s Wembley Stadium was £17.50, or roughly $65 in American dollars today. $7,500 in the 80s should have yielded the concert, backstage passes, catered meal, limo to and from, private jet to the city of your choice, and singing Paul McCartney part on “The Girl Is Mine.”

As the series heads to The Big Apple, contemplate the question for yourself- is there a ticket worth $7,500 of your hard earned money?

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I live in Harlem, and there’s a middle-aged man named Michael who grew up in Queens and holds court on a bench along the fringes of Morningside Park, where he chats with neighbors who stroll by.

These days we talk mostly about the New York Knicks.

I met Michael the same way I met Jonah, who’s turning 30 and grew up upstate, near Woodstock — through our dogs.

Jonah is a die-hard Knicks fan who endured Frank Ntilikina and Noah Vonleh starting lineups in the late 2010s. When I cover playoff games at Madison Square Garden, I make sure to stash the rally towels and T-shirts staffers leave draped over each seat because I give them to Jonah. His texts, these days, are downright giddy.

These New York Knicks hold this ineffable quality of linking friends and strangers, of galvanizing people from disparate religions, races, economic classes and from all over the political spectrum. There are few things these days that can do that.

And as the team has seized a commanding 2-0 lead over the San Antonio Spurs, winning both games on the road, the Knicks are not only poised to end a 53-year title drought, they can do it in a sweep, at home in the mecca of basketball.

The energy here feels feral. You cannot walk more than a few blocks without seeing royal blue and orange somewhere on someone’s body. The other day, again walking my dog, I was listening to music (I’ve been big on “A Love Supreme” these days) but overheard the unmistakable word “Anunoby” from the mouth of a passerby, who was chatting with someone else.

Flags hang outside the windows of fifth-floor walkups. Local bars are running specials. You walk outside and hear Knicks in four.

The New York Knicks are flying home with a 2-0 lead.

7th Avenue might not stop celebrating before they land. 🔥🎉 pic.twitter.com/C7pbyOdqar

— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) June 6, 2026

“It has been an honor to be part of this team, be part of this organization that’s bringing the word, ‘hope’ back to the city,” Karl-Anthony Towns said Monday, June 1. “To have the Knicks be where we’re at right now and be so respected in the city — I’ve talked about it on the Jadakiss and Fat Joe podcast — the greatest currency you could earn in New York City is not money, but it’s respect. And to have the respect of the fans and the city, we’re rich beyond belief.”

The MTA, or Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is getting in on it.

The MTA, actually, is another thing that unites New Yorkers. It can be late, unreliable and dirty, though it does shuttle us everywhere.

Anyway, the MTA painted the Penn Station subway stop entrance at 34th and 8th — which is normally forest green — royal blue and orange. Madison Square Garden, for those not familiar, is located directly above the train station. Indelible Knicks superfan Fat Joe, who has been at literally every game I’ve covered, was the first-ever special guest conductor recently on the 1 train.

The watch parties outside Madison Square Garden spill out onto 7th Ave., where Knicks fans roar into the night. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another long-suffering fan, recently spoke about what would happen if the Knicks actually did it.

“It’s like, you’re torn as a New Yorker and as the mayor,” he said recently on Sidetalk. “As a New Yorker, you’re like ‘I cannot wait for this.’ As the mayor, absolute chaos.”

The Knicks are also on an absolute heater. They’ve won 13 consecutive playoff games, second-most in NBA history. Should New York close it out in four and complete the sweep, the Knicks will tie the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors for the longest winning streak (15) in a single postseason.

They’re dominating and winning in different ways. They have made the planet’s most uniquely gifted basketball player, Victor Wembanyama, so flustered that he has been left searching for answers. These Knicks are a fun watch.

As an NBA reporter, I’m thrilled to head into Madison Square Garden Monday, June 8 for Game 3. From the celebrities, to the organ, to friendly ushers with thick accents, there is no place better to take in a high-stakes game.

Yet, somehow, once this is all done, I’m just as hyped to grab beers with my friends Michael, Jonah and Kevin (Suns fan; also met through our dogs) to relive it all once more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Knicks bring New York fans together as wins pile up in NBA playoffs

The New York Knicks survived a late rally by the San Antonio Spurs to win 105-104 and take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals as they seek a first championship in 53 years.

With nine and a half seconds remaining on the clock, Jalen Brunson stole possession after Spurs' Victor Wembanyama passed the ball into team-mate Stephon Castle's back.

Wembanyama then fouled Benson, who converted the free-throw to give the Knicks the decisive point.

There was still time for Wembanyama to attempt to tie the game for the Spurs, but he missed from 20 feet on the buzzer to hand the Knicks their 13th successive play-off victory.

Wembanyama has been at the centre of much of the drama in the NBA Finals so far - in game one, he was approached by a spectator who ran on to the court, filming himself on his phone.

• NBA chief warns fans after 'stupid' court invasion
• Knicks lead NBA Finals after late run beats Spurs

Appearing in the Finals for the first time since 1999, the Knicks are the third team to win the first two games of a Finals away from home.

The Chicago Bulls did it in 1993, and the Houston Rockets in 1995. Each side went on to win the championship.

After a quiet first-half performance, Wembanyama led a Spurs' comeback, scoring 22 second-half points as they caught up with 14-in-a-row in the final quarter.

In the final seconds, the scores were level as the Frenchman passed the ball into Castle's back, which gave Brunson a chance to grab the winning basket.

In a post-match news conference, Wembanyama conceded that he was not at his best, having starred on the Spurs' route to the Finals.

"We need to never get too high and never get too low," said the 22-year-old, appearing in the Finals for the first time. "Personally, I think I could have been better in recovering from the high of the conference finals.

"I threw that [misplaced pass] away. I messed up.

"Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely."

Meanwhile, match-winner Brunson credited the team environment for his sparkling form after his final-quarter scoring also won game one for the Knicks.

"I think most importantly, knowing we're on the road, and knowing my team-mates have my back, I think that's the biggest thing in an environment like this," Brunson said.

"The trust they have in me and the trust I have in them, it's got us to this point."

The best-of-seven series continues on Monday, when the Knicks host the Spurs at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.

US president Donald Trump, who was born in New York City, plans to attend as the Knicks hunt their first championship since 1973.

SAN ANTONIO -- A few notes from the Knicks’ Game 2 win over the Spurs:

The Knicks still owe the Nets four first-round picks as part of the Mikal Bridges trade. They’ll send them over with a smile if Bridges continues to perform like he did on Friday night. The wing had 20 points on 13 shots while adding six rebounds and six assists to help the Knicks take a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Bridges’ points came at some opportune moment as Knicks captain Jalen Brunson struggled with his shot. In the second and third quarters, Bridges hit all eight of his attempts for 20 points. Brunson was 2-for-8 with two turnovers in the same stretch.

All in all, Bridges is averaging more than 16 points per game on roughly 60 percent shooting during the Knicks’ 13-game winning streak. For the second straight season, Bridges has had big moments in the playoffs following a so-so regular season.

What is it that makes Bridges a playoff riser?

“Just that desperation,” Bridges said. “You know, that desperation of trying to be the last team standing and trying to do whatever it takes to help my team win. There's nothing after June. You don't play again until October. So just try to give it all that I got and do whatever it takes for this team.”

Thanks in part to Bridges, the Knicks are two wins away from their first NBA championship in 53 years.

ROBINSON ROLLS

Mitchell Robinson defended Victor Wembanyama late in Game 2 -- and it worked out well. Mike Brown used Robinson on Wembanyama in the closing moments and Robinson delivered, helping to force Wembanyama into two missed shots.

“Wemby is, I said it before, iconic,” Brown said. “There is nobody like from. He can score from all three levels. He wants the ball. Two big possessions at the end of the game we put Mitch on him. What I'm proud about more than anything else, Mitch defended him the right way.

“Wemby is iconic. If he makes a shot, he makes a shot. You're not blocking a shot. You make him work, you lead with your chest. You show your hands and you embrace those details while trying to guard him and then box out. It started with Mitch and it ended with the other four guys boxing out.

“So just a heck of a job by Mitch guarding the most iconic player in the world on two possessions to possibly win the game. Phenomenal.”

With two more wins, Brown will draw accurate comparisons to Joe Torre in 1996. A low-key manager takes over for an intense coach and gets results in Year 1.

SAN ANTONIO — The only thing that can slow down Karl-Anthony Towns at this point is the officiating. 

On his way to a monster game, Towns was limited by a few questionable calls. 

He still helped the Knicks take a commanding 2-0 series lead after this pulsating 105-104 victory at Frost Bank Center on Friday night. 

For most of the first three quarters, Towns got the better of Victor Wembanyama at both ends of the floor. However, he picked up his fourth foul with 6:01 left in the third quarter and had to watch the rest of the period. 

He still tallied 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, along with 13 rebounds and four assists.

He was also a plus-11 in his 34 minutes. 

“For me, I’m just happy to be finding ways to win,” Towns said. “I’m just worried about the team result, which is winning. … This team leans on each other. I think that’s why we’ve gotten here. 

“That’s why we had the success we had during the regular season, even when things weren’t going great because at the end of the day when things do get tough, and the trials and tribulations do present themselves, this team doesn’t disband. They don’t go away from each other. We lean into each other even more.” 

It was a down regular season for Towns, but it has been a terrific postseason. So much changed in that opening-round playoff series against the Hawks, when coach Mike Brown shifted the offense to run more through Towns.

He has become more efficient and far more engaged, a playmaker on one end and a strong defender on the other.

The Knicks haven’t lost since. 

“It’s supposed to be like it is. I came in with a great plan. Maybe the plan doesn’t work. Who adjusts, him or me? Me. I adjust,” Brown said. “The adjustment’s not enough. Every once in a while, we’re not on the same page. We talk about it. I adjust again. 

“It’s my job as a coach to fit whatever scheme we have on both sides of the floor to all of our players, and if you’re a great player, I’ve got to make a little bit more adjustments or I’ve got to give a little bit more than you do.”

For five minutes on Friday night, it looked like the San Antonio Spurs were on their way to completing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the NBA Finals. Instead, they are facing a harash reality: being in an 0-2 series deficit.

Despite rallying from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter and taking the lead in the final minutes, the Spurs suffered a heartbreaking 105-104 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Frost Bank Center, putting San Antonio in an 0-2 hole as the series shifts to Madison Square Garden.

“We weren’t playing good enough,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said. “We weren’t consistent enough in the phases of the game. It felt like we chased the game a little bit and they [Knicks] made some tough shots at the end of the shot clock. I thought that affected our approach at times and took away from trying to play our brand of basketball.”

After a strong first quarter, the Spurs were outscored 31-18 in the second quarter thanks to the play of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. Victor Wembanyama, who said he needed to be better after Game 1, had just seven points on four shot attempts in the first half.

Wembanyama turned things around in the second half as he finished the game with 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks while being a key cog in San Antonio’s comeback effort on both ends of the floor. De’Aaron Fox bounced back from a poor outing in Game 1 to score 20 points as the Spurs chipped away at New York’s lead.

With the Spurs trailing 97-83 with 6:03 remaining, San Antonio’s defense tightened, shots started to fall, the crowd came alive, and the Spurs began getting stops that turned into transition points. Wembanyama gave the Spurs the lead when he was fouled on an attempt, hitting the free throw to put his team up one. When it appeared momentum had shifted, New York responded.

“I threw that one away. I messed up. We needed to win that game. This game was ours,” Wembanyama said of his turnover at the end of the game. “But at this point, it’s done. Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely.”

Jalen Brunson delivered in the game’s biggest moments, which is why he’s earned the nickname “Captain Clutch”. Wembanyama passed the ball, but it went off the back of Stephon Castle. Wemby fouled Brunson who dived to the court for the ball, sending him to the free throw line. Brunson knocked down the go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left, giving New York the 105-104 lead.

“We showed tremendous desperation, urgency, and competitive response,” Johnson said of the Spurs’ fourth quarter rally. “Hopefully we can try to bottle that up so we don’t have to be down to play at that same level.”

The Spurs still had one final chance. Wembanyama’s shot attempt hit iron as time expired, sending the thousands of Knicks fans who made the trip into a frenzy. Anthony-Towns led the way for the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Bridges added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Brunson chipped in 20 points despite a difficult shooting night, going 7-for-25 from the floor.

“I’m still very blurry, and that’s the whole problem,” Wembanyama said of the final moments down the stretch. “I need to have more poise, more control over the game.”

The loss stings for San Antonio because they were so close. After struggling offensively for long stretches and having the Knicks control much of the game, the Spurs nearly tied the series up at one game apiece and sent their fans honking into the night.

The comeback will be remembered, but so will the heartbreaking ending. Now, the Spurs are in unfamiliar territory: needing to win on the road at Madison Square Garden to get back into the series.

While things seem daunting, the Finals are far from over. But for one night in June in San Antonio, a rally became a heartbreaking reminder of how thin the margin for error can be on basketball’s biggest stage.

Game Notes

• Through two games, Jalen Brunson is 19-for-56 from the field against the Spurs. We can’t chalk it up to Brunson having a bad shooting night. This is more credit for the swarming defense that the Spurs have played on him.
• Keldon Johnson played 15 minutes and was 1-of-4 from the floor. Not exactly the numbers the Spurs need from their sixth man of the year.
• Julian didn’t have the best night, but his rebounding made up for the poor shooting night.
• The series is not over, but it has gotten harder with two games in New York and down 0-2.
• If the Spurs can play like they did over the final six minutes in Game 2 to start Game 3, they will get themselves back in the series.

The Knicks take a 2-0 NBA Finals lead back to New York after Friday's 105-104 Game 2 win at the Spurs, swiping both of the series' first two matchups in San Antonio and setting the stage for a chaotic MSG as Mike Brown's team could close out the championship chase on its home court.

Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns put the Knicks' two-game advantage into perspective following New York's near collapse in which it trailed 104-102 with 57 seconds left and was a Victor Wembanyama shot away from a 1-1 tie.

"Every single day, we try to chip away, trying to be the best team we can be," said Brunson, who scored the Knicks' final five points, tying and ultimately taking the one-point lead along the way. "I think our mindset was 0-0, not being up 1-0. Even with what the series is now, next game, mindset has to be 0-0 again. It's just how it has to be. You can't be comfortable, you can't be satisfied with anything. You've just got to continue to push forward."

New York overcame Brunson's 20 points on 7-of-25 shooting with Towns' 21-point, 13-rebound double-double and play against Wembanyama -- the game-high scorer with 29 points -- to fend off the Spurs, who trailed 97-83 with six minutes left after OG Anunoby's dunk assisted by Towns.

"I have been on the other side where you're a young team and you're trying to do a lot to win the game," Towns said. "I think that, for us, we keep leaning on experience and we keep leaning on the word 'execution' and I think we did a good job when we needed to, executing, but we didn't do as well as we wanted to. So, when we get back to New York, we'll get back to work, we'll get back to the gym and try to correct the mistakes we made tonight."

Monday's 8:30 p.m. Game 3 at The Garden awaits with the Knicks expecting the Spurs' best.

"Knowing them, there's definitely another level," Brunson said. "We've got to be prepared and ready to match it, be ready to play for 48 minutes and, no matter what goes on throughout a game, just having each other's back, regardless of what's going on -- who's on a run, who's not, who's up, who's down. Just making sure that we're playing together for 48 minutes is really important."

The NBA can be pretty simple. There’s one ball and five players. If you have one of the best players in the league handling the ball the majority of the time, your team is going to win a lot of games. The issue that teams run into is the salaries. Teams rise and fall with the balance of contracts that fit into a team’s timelines and windows.

How many teams have fizzled because a team had no cap room to improve? That’s every team, actually. As teams fill their rosters, typically in the draft, those players eventually run out their contracts and will demand the most possible. The best teams in the league will make sure they’re constantly replenishing their team with young players from the draft. If teams run out of draft picks, it’s inevitable that the cap or age catches up to them. The best example of this came from the Jazz four seasons ago. Utah had gone all in on a Mike Conley trade as they tried to maximize on their two-man core of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. With the picks gone from the Mike Conley trade, and with some bad drafting (looking at you, Udoka Azubuike), the Jazz maxed out their potential and had no way to improve because they were capped out.

Beyond the potential of being the best prospect in Jazz history, the #2 pick is valuable for what it does for the Jazz cap as well. Having a player like AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson is incredibly valuable. But having them on your team, secured on a rookie contract, means the Jazz can also maximize every other position.

Next season, Utah will be giving $49M to Jaren Jackson Jr., $46M to Lauri Markkanen, and they’ll likely be giving somewhere between $25M and $30M to Walker Kessler, and Keyonte George is going to get paid soon too. That’s a situation that doesn’t leave anything for signing players in free agency, outside of exceptions like the mid-level exception.

But that’s what makes the #2 pick even more valuable. That core of George, Kessler, Markkanen, and Jackson, with Ace Bailey on a rookie contract, is great. Now? The Jazz will add another rookie contract in either Dybantsa or Peterson. And what if Dybantsa or Peterson are as good as people hope? Having a tier-1 prospect making $13M over the next four years is incredible. Down the road, Utah will have to make decisions on their contracts, but for now? They’re sitting pretty and can keep this current roster together as long as they’re willing to pay the tax.

With the draft just weeks away, Utah has to be excited about the chance to add not only a generational prospect, but one that will also fit into a rapidly rising cap situation for the Jazz. Currently, FanDuel has the odds of AJ Dybantsa at -450 so it seems likely that Darryn Peterson is likely going to be on the Jazz.