The NBA Finals will be filled with fresh faces. Both the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks are made up of players who haven’t appeared on this stage before. It’s an exciting time for the league, as the Spurs look to begin a new dynasty with Victor Wembanyama at the helm, and the Knicks look to win their first NBA Championship since 1994.

Right now, the Spurs are -198 favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy on FanDuel. Which team ends up doing that will come down to the performances of their best players. These teams are loaded with talent. But which players rise to the top? Let’s break down the top-10 players in the NBA Finals.

1. Victor Wembanyama

The Western Conference Finals MVP will headline these NBA Finals. The 22-year-old Frenchman has been dominant. Over the course of the playoffs, Wembanyama is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 51% from the field and 37% from three. He’s proven that even in his first playoff run, he may be the best player in the league. His biggest impact in this series will likely come on the defensive end, as the Knicks feast in the paint and on the boards. If Wembanyama can own the paint, he’ll give the Spurs a major advantage.

2. Jalen Brunson

Brunson is writing himself into New York lore. He’s the best modern Knick, and may go down as one of the best New York athletes in history if he can bring home an NBA Championship. He’s scoring 26.9 points per game on 48.6% shooting from the field and 35.2% from three. That last stat is perhaps the most important. Brunson will be able to hurt the Spurs with his pull-up three-point shooting. It’s a shot that they’ve been prone to giving up in their drop pick-and-roll coverage. Brunson’s pull-up shooting from three and in the mid-range is a major factor in this series.

3. Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns is the type of player who can create big problems for the Spurs. He’s big, strong, and can shoot the three. Towns is averaging 16.9 points and 10.6 rebounds (2.6 of them offensive) while shooting 48.9% from three in the playoffs. The Knicks have used him as a hub for their offense and have thrived as a result. Towns has to stay out of foul trouble and hold up defensively against a physical Spurs team. If Wembanyama guards him, Towns will likely try to pull him out of the paint. If Stephon Castle guards him, as he did in the regular season, Towns will have a chance to bully the Spurs inside. How the Spurs decide to guard KAT is one of the more interesting strategic decisions in the Finals.

4. OG Anunoby

This was the first tough decision on the list. It’s very close between Anunoby and Castle for the fourth-best player in the series. The edge goes to Anunoby, who has been one of the Knicks’ best scorers this postseason, averaging 19.7 points on 57.7% shooting from the field and 48.3% from three. He’s accomplished that all while being their best perimeter defender. Anunoby may also find himself guarding Wembanyama a bit, as he did in the regular season. He’s a big, strong, agile wing who can hold his own against bigger players. Anunoby is an X-factor in this series just based on his defensive prowess. If he also continues to score the ball at a high level, he gives the Knicks a significant advantage.

5. Stephon Castle

After a run of three-straight Knicks, we finally have a Spur rounding out the top-five players in the series. Wembanyama has a huge gap between him and Brunson, but the margin between Castle and Anunoby is slim. Castle has emerged as the Spurs’ second-best player in the postseason with his lockdown defense and aggressive driving. He’s averaging 19.2 points and 6.7 assists while shooting 36.3% from deep in the postseason. The keys for him in this series are to keep spacing the floor with his shooting, reduce his turnovers (averaging 3.7 in the playoffs), and guard without fouling. He will likely be asked to take on several different tough defensive matchups against New York, switching between banging with Towns inside and chasing Brunson around screens on the perimeter.

6. De’Aaron Fox

Which version of Fox will we see in the NBA Finals? If it’s the Fox we saw explode for big scoring nights against the Portland Trail Blazers, he should be higher on this list. If his ankle injury still restricts him, as it did against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then he could actually be too high. Fox will be key to the Spurs’ offensive attack. He’s going to face tough matchups like Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges, who will have the length and speed to keep up with his quick attacks to the basket and contest his mid-range shots. Even if Fox’s scoring doesn’t return to his heights from the first round, he still has a role to play as a steadying hand for San Antonio. They’ll need him to be a leader against a tough Knicks defense.

7. Mikal Bridges

Bridges has been up and down for the Knicks in the postseason. He started the playoffs ice-cold from the field, but he has caught fire lately. He’s averaging 14.6 points on 58.6% shooting from the field and 34.1% from deep. New York needs him to hit threes in this series. He’ll likely have some open opportunities as the Spurs send a lot of defensive attention at Towns, Brunson, and Anunoby. Bridges is an ace-in-the-hole defensively for the Knicks. He provides some matchup issues for the Spurs with his length and athleticism. He’ll likely guard the Spurs guards, who will try to get their bodies into Bridges to counter his length.

8. Dylan Harper

Harper is the only non-starter in the top-10, and for good reason. He’s looked years ahead of where he should be as a 20-year-old guard in his first postseason. Harper is averaging 13.1 points off the bench while shooting 52.5% from the field and 36.4% from deep. He’s competing defensively and has been a force on the glass. Harper struggled through an adductor injury in the WCF, but now looks to be back to near full health. He should create some issues for the Knicks’ smaller bench backcourt. With rebounding being so critical in this series, Harper’s ability to crash the offensive glass should help the Spurs make up for their size disadvantage against New York.

9. Devin Vassell

You need great glue guys to win a championship. The last two players on this list fit the bill. Vassell was excellent in the WCF, knocking down big shots while making clutch defensive plays. Vassell’s defensive effort has been the biggest development for the Spurs this postseason. He’s had tough defensive assignments, like Anthony Edwards and Chet Holmgren, and risen to the occasion every single time. He’s been active in the passing lanes (1.4 steals per game) and made some highlight blocks. He’ll once again have to take on a difficult defensive assignment in the Finals, trying to guard players like Anunoby and Brunson. San Antonio needs him to hit shots and continue defending his tail off if they want to take home a championship.

10. Josh Hart

Hart isn’t going to wow anyone with his box score stats, but he does a lot of the little things that make a team great. He rebounds the ball, hustles on defense, and is a high-level passer. Whatever the Knicks need him to do, he does with intensity. The Spurs will force him to make three-pointers in the Finals. Hart is shooting just 30.3% in the postseason. If he makes open threes, the Spurs’ defensive scheme becomes even more difficult to execute. If he doesn’t, San Antonio can treat him like they did non-shooters in other series, leaving him open while Wembanyama roams the paint to block shots.

As anybody who has stayed up night after night through the NBA postseason knows, the human body wasn’t built for the late hours of playoff basketball. 

Our circadian rhythm typically optimizes for peak performance in the late afternoon and early evening, and it’s not just mental acuity that varies by time of day.

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“It’s mainly physical—for example, your muscle strength has a very strong circadian rhythm,” said Steven Lockley, a consultant to athletes and teams around the world as well as the co-founder and chief scientist for Timeshifter, an app that helps people mitigate jet lag.

That lends Western Conference teams an edge, including in the NBA Finals. 

During the season, West Coast players are more often playing at 4 p.m. biological clock time (East Coast away games) or 7 p.m. (home), rather than the 7 p.m. (home) and 10 p.m. (away) tips East Coast players are managing.

In other sports, circadian rhythms have been credited with helping swimmers break more records in afternoon plunges and giving Pacific time NFL teams a leg up in Monday Night Football contests.

The wider the time-zone differential, the larger the impact. Since the 1999-00 season, Eastern time zone NBA teams have won 39% of their road games in other time zones when starting before 8:30 ET. That drops to 36% for tipoffs between 8:30-10:29 p.m. ET … and falls further from there. 

To maximize TV audience, the Finals maintain a consistent 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET start time (games started after 9 p.m. ET as recently as 2022). 

“The West Coast teams definitely have an advantage on average over the East Coast,” Lockley said.

With only a one-hour difference between San Antonio and New York, the Knicks won’t face as big a disadvantage as past Eastern champions. The typical body can handle a one-hour shift within a day of landing. Still, the Spurs could find a small edge. If they remain rooted on San Antonio time, Game 3 and 4 in New York will feel like 7:30 p.m. tipoffs rather than 8:30 starts.

The Knicks, then, might be wise to try living on Texas time. However, maintaining an artificial schedule for the home portion of a series, with players surrounded by families and other obligations, is trickier than when stars are largely sequestered in a team hotel, as the Spurs will be in NYC.

A 2022 study of 11,481 NBA games from Australia’s Monash University found that the eastward jet-lag effect impaired returning home teams more than visiting away teams, amplifying the league’s geographic imbalance. 

Thanks to dynastic Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors runs, 13 of the last 25 Eastern Conference champions have had to handle cross-country flights in the Finals (not counting the COVID Bubble Finals). Pacific time teams are 9-4 in those matchups.

Of course, having Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry probably factors in, too. The aforementioned time-based winning percentage numbers do not take into account team quality. Over the last 25 years, the Lakers and Warriors have generally presented stiffer tests than the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies, regardless of what time the games are played. Utah and Denver have unique altitude edges as well. 

That said, some western teams have pressed their advantage by keeping their body clocks on hometown time when traveling east, i.e.,staying up late on the road, this time on coach’s orders, before adjusting slowly. 

In college hoops, Cal reportedly did exactly that after hearing from a former NASA consultant, as it figured out how to handle playing in the ACC against many teams located on the East Coast.

There are two potential benefits: keeping games in earlier biological clock time windows and—with proper adjustments to light exposure and meal planning—limiting the effect of jet lag. For those forced to shift their clocks, travel-related sleep disruption has been found to impair everything from shooting percentage to defensive rating. 

The result of all these temporal challenges? Since 1999-00, seven of the 10 teams with the smallest home court advantages—measured in terms of average point differential at home versus away—play in the Eastern time zone, and none of those 10 are on Pacific or Mountain time. New York is 26th in home court advantage over that span. 

Following a growing acceptance of sleep science, NBA teams have adjusted their flight and practice times to navigate player clocks, Lockley said, leaving plenty of time for rest. Certain stars have also mastered the art of the pregame nap.

Victor Wembanyama, in particular, has put an emphasis on ZZZ’s. Entering the draft, he already aimed for 10 hours of sleep per night, with afternoon time set aside for additional snoozes. He’s been known to put his phone on airplane mode after 9 p.m. ET, while staffers are told not to contact him after 9:30. 

“That’s when he reads for an hour,” Spurs director of basketball communications Jordan Howenstine told The Athletic in 2024. “Then he goes to sleep.”

After games, Spurs vet De’Aaron Fox recently shared, Wemby has returned to the locker room wearing blue light-blocking glasses, counting down the time until he can rest.

While travel is disruptive for everyone, preparation for the unique challenges of NBA play in June—from later-than-normal starts to there-and-back-again time zone hops—could prove decisive. 

Getting nine hours a night throughout the playoffs? Whether you’re on the court or just watching from home, there’s nothing more alien than that.

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Breen has been the Knicks’ play-by-play voice on MSG Networks since 1998 — but this is the first time during that stretch that he’ll announce the Knicks in the Finals.

“It’s kind of a bucket list thing,” Breen said. “Twenty-one Finals is impossible to comprehend for me, and I always thought it’d be pretty cool to have the Knicks in one. And to see the growth of the team the last couple of years and to see what this team has done for the fan base of New York — I’ve lived in New York my whole life. It’s really energized the city like nothing I’ve ever seen, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Breen will be on the call with analysts Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler when the Knicks end their 27-year Finals drought and tip off Game 1 against the Spurs on Wednesday, June 3.

Breen announced the Knicks’ 1994 Finals series loss to the Rockets on the radio for New York’s WFAN. In 1999, when the Knicks made it back to the Finals, Marv Albert was on the call instead of Breen.  

Now, Breen is getting a second chance. This year’s Knicks-Spurs championship series is a rematch of the 1999 Finals, when the Knicks became the first 8-seed to make the Finals at the conclusion of the lockout-shortened NBA season. But with Patrick Ewing out injured and Larry Johnson banged up, New York couldn’t finish the job and the Spurs won the first of coach Gregg Popovich’s five NBA titles.

“That’s when you started to realize Tim Duncan was going to be one of the greatest players of all time,” Breen recalled. “It was actually a great year for both teams, even though the Knicks fell short. But San Antonio, you started thinking, OK, this could be a team that’s going to win a lot of titles in a row.”

More: The Knicks are back in the Finals and the whole city is coming along

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Getting into the notoriously expensive 2026 NBA Finals finally got a little cheaper.

Just one day after our team reported that ticket prices for Game 1 at the San Antonio Spurs’ Frost Bank Center started at $1,000 including fees on SeatGeek, prices have plummeted.

At the time of publication, seats now start at $767 including fees to see Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Julian Champaigne and Dylan Harper in the Alamo City.

While still quite pricey, a $233 discount simply for waiting 24 hours to pull the trigger on tickets is not a bad deal at all.

Throw in the fact that you can score an additional $10 off if you use promo code NYPOST10 for purchases over $250 at checkout and you’ll practically be gaming the system (Editor’s Note: this discount is only valid for users’ first purchase on SeatGeek).

Should you attend a game at the New York Knicks’ Madison Square Garden, you’ll be ponying up quite a bit more moolah.

Over the past week, prices have steadily risen to catch Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and co. on their home court.

On May 26, we found seats going for $3,543 including fees (for Game 4).

And that was the best deal.

Now, the lowest price we can find on tickets is a whopping $4,112 including fees.

For those without a calculator on hand, that’s a $569 (!) jump in just seven days.

Demand is high — tickets cost roughly the same what it’ll run you to get into the Super Bowl — but might be worth the eye-popping price tag.

“Nothing compares to Knicks playoff energy,” Post social media guru and Knicks diehard Olivia Silio told us.

“The roar of the crowd, the fans jumping up and down after every shot, the celebrities hyping up the crowd, the MSG organist leading the chants, the announcer after every point. MSG makes you feel like you’re a part of history.”

Want to save and go to a game in the House that Duncan Built or witness the 1999 NBA Finals rematch in the Big Apple?

We’re here to help, hoops-heads.

Our team has everything you need to know about seeing the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals live below.

San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals home game tickets

All Spurs playoff home game dates at the Frost Bank Center and the cheapest tickets available (versus what they cost on June 1) can be found here:

New York Knicks NBA Finals home game tickets

A complete calendar, including all announced Knicks NBA Finals home game dates and the best prices on tickets are listed below.

Knicks playoff home game giveaways

Silio also let us know that there are some additional perks to attending games at MSG.

“The first home game of the series, you’ll go home with a souvenir t-shirt, commemorating the game,” she said.

“Other games have ‘Always Knicks’ towels for fans to keep as well as interactive arena bracelets, used for light shows and hyping up the crowd. Another bonus is you may see your favorite actor, singer or athlete, rooting alongside you.”

About Knicks-Spurs

The Knicks and Spurs played three times over the course of the 2025-26 season.

In their first contest, the stakes were high. New York and San Antonio met in the championship game of the 2025 NBA Cup on Dec. 16. OG Anunoby dropped 28 points while Brunson netted 25 and ended up winning MVP for the in-season tourney.

“This is great and we’re going to enjoy this,” Brunson said. “But once we leave tomorrow, we’re moving on.”

Game number two — just a good, old-fashioned regular season showdown — saw Julian Champagnie score 36 and lead San Antonio to a surprise, come-from-behind 134-132 victory on New Year’s Eve.

When the elite clubs played a third time, New York stomped on the Spurs and walked away with a commanding 114-89 blowout. Mikal Bridges scored 25 while Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart chipped in double-doubles.

Notable storylines swirling around the Finals are center Mitchell Robinson’s broken left pinky finger, whether Anunoby and/or Hart will be able to stop Wemby, New York’s week of rest versus San Antonio’s non-stop schedule following their seven-game bloodbath with the Oklahoma City Thunder and NYC local ties for Spurs players Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle.

Clearly, there’s a lot to sift through.

If you want to dig deeper, you can find all New York Post Knicks stories here.

Huge concerts at MSG in 2026

Not sure what to do once the final buzzer sounds on the 2025-26 NBA season?

MSG has you covered.

The legendary venue has booked a number of exciting acts to entertain audiences all summer long.

Here are just five of our favorites you won’t want to miss live.

• Bon Jovi (July 7-9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 26)

• Earth, Wind, and Fire with Lionel Richie (July 11)

• Phish (July 22, 24, 25, 27, 29)

• RUSH (July 28, 30, Aug. 1, 3)

• J. Cole (Aug. 2, 4)

Want to see who else is Big Apple-bound? Check out this list of all the upcoming events at Madison Square Garden to find the show for you.

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Knicks forward OG Anunoby gifted Emmy-winning TV host Martha Stewart a pair of his shoes after she posted about them on Instagram.

The shoes were size 15.5 and included a “very nice message” and autograph, Stewart said on her Instagram.

The footwear flirtation started when Stewart commented on Instagram recently: “OG Anunoby wears my favorite Skechers while playing for the Knicks tonight at the Garden!!!!!“ 

Anunoby responded: “i’m glad you like them martha.”

Stewart has appeeared at a couple of games this postseason at MSG as the Knicks have made a run to the NBA Finals — most recently at Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers.

Stewart, who was convicted of five felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case, spent five months in federal prison for fraud. She was released in March 2005.

The media entrepreneur returned to professional life after her release, becoming Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s chairwoman again in 2015.

Her company has since been acquired by Sequential Brands Group and then sold for $175 million.

Stewart became the oldest woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue at age 81 in 2023.

Anunoby, who sent Stewart a pair of Skechers, signed with the company in May 2025 during the Knicks’ previous playoff run.

The former Indiana Hoosier joined Joel Embiid, Julius Randle and Josh Green on the Sketchers team.

Anunoby is averaging 19.7 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and one block per game this postseason spanning 12 games.

Many of his numbers are up from the regular season, when he averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game.

Anunoby missed part of the second-round 76ers series after suffering a hamstring injury in Game 2. He also missed nine games during the regular season with a similar injury.

The forward and his Knicks teammates face the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals on Wednesday night.

Anunoby averaged 16.3 points per game against the Spurs this season, with a high of 28 in December.

He also added 6.3 rebounds, two assists and one turnover per game.

After calling Knicks fans “annoying” during the conference semifinals, Charles Barkley has changed his tune.

Barkley raved about the “energy” of New York fans on Adam Schein’s “Mad Dog Sports Radio” show on Monday morning — while still having a little dig for the orange and blue faithful.

“I’m not gonna lie, last year in the Conference Finals, we traveled, and man, it’s a different thing being in New York,” Barkley told Schein, according to Awful Announcing. “I know New Yorkers are annoying. But man, they’re right. When the Knicks are doing good, it’s a different energy in that city.”

“It was one of the most amazing things those three games we went to in New York,” Barkley said, referring to the Knicks’ Conference Finals matchup against the Pacers last year. “And then now you’re gonna put it on steroids going to the Finals.”

With “Inside the NBA” serving as the NBA Finals’ primary studio show for the first time in the show’s 38-year history, Barkley is especially looking forward to the series.

“For me, being able to do the Finals for the first time, to get the New York Knicks in the Finals…I’m so glad we’re gonna get to do the games,” Barkley said. “But for Adam Silver, this is a dream matchup to get the Knicks against Victor (Wembanyama).”

Barkley hasn’t always sided with New York, though, as he complained about the “annoying” Knicks fans during the first round series against Atlanta.

He claimed that Knicks fans who were staying in the same hotel as him questioned coach Mike Brown and suggested the team trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo when the Knicks fell 2-1 down in the series.

The Knicks, though, have won 11 straight games since and are on the doorstep of their first title since 1973.

Game 1 tips off on Wednesday night in San Antonio.

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New Yorkers, we’ve been waiting a long time for this — we have to show up in style.

Our New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

The finals start today, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to get all of your watch party gear set, whether you’re watching from a bar, your couch or with 18,000 other fans at Madison Square Garden.

An Amazon Prime membership unlocks all kinds of benefits for users, but the best — and most relevant, as Knicks fans on a bit of a time crunch — is the ultra-fast shipping. If you aren’t already a member, you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial (which will also run through this year’s annual Prime Day) and get your Knicks gear in less than 24 hours.

NBA Court Classic Adult Short Sleeve Knicks T-Shirt

This classic tee with a vintage vibe is a perfect fit — especially since it’ll be on your doorstep in time for your next watch party.

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LeBron James is still in the business of keep receipts.

On an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar took a pointed shot at former Lakers champion Ron Harper while discussing Harper’s son, San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper.

“Yeah, Dylan’s great. I mean, his daddy ain’t s–t, but he’s good,” James said. “I’ll see him when I see him.”

The comment seemed to be a direct response to remarks Ron Harper made during NBA All-Star Weekend earlier this year. When asked whether he always envisioned both of his sons, Dylan Harper and Ron Harper Jr., reaching the NBA, the five-time NBA champion took an apparent swipe at James.

“I’m not LeBron James,” Harper said. “I’m not going to tell my kids what they have to do. I just want them to play and enjoy the game and whatever they can get back out of the ball game, we will take it.”

Harper later doubled down during an appearance on the “It Is What It Is” podcast, ranking Scottie Pippen ahead of James on his all-time small forward list while criticizing LeBron’s defensive style.

James’ latest comment came while praising Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The former Rutgers star has quickly become one of the league’s most promising young players and is helping fuel a Spurs team that beat the odds by making the 2026 NBA Finals, beating out the favored Oklahoma City Thunder.

For now, the exchange adds another chapter to an unexpected feud between two former NBA champions. And judging by LeBron’s response, it’s clear he hasn’t forgotten Harper’s comments anytime soon.