Watch the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs starting Wednesday on ABC 7
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The last time the New York Knicks made the NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs were the opponent and just happened to have a generational big-man talent who was heading to the title round for the first time.
Déjà vu. Back then for the Spurs, it was Tim Duncan. This time for the Spurs, it's Victor Wembanyama. Here they go again - San Antonio vs. New York is the matchup for the 2026 NBA Finals, a Spurs team looking to return to basketball's mountaintop for the sixth time and a Knicks team looking for its first championship in 53 years.
The Knicks stormed through the Eastern Conference, winning 11 consecutive games by an average of 23.8 points to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
The Spurs ended the Oklahoma City Thunder's hopes of becoming the first team since the Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors of 2017 and 2018 to win back-to-back titles.
We'll provide live updates on the series right here!
Channel 7 is also your home for the NBA Finals.
On Wednesday, ahead of Game 1, Eyewitness News Mornings at 10 will be live from Madison Square Garden. Then at 7:30 p.m., we'll have the Countdown to Tipoff. That's followed by NBA Tip-off at 8:00 p.m., and then Game 1 starts at 8:30 p.m.
Plus, Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, and Anthony Johnson will all be on the road in San Antonio. You can watch their reports on Eyewitness News.
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The New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, and they'll face the same opponent they did then, the San Antonio Spurs. You can watch the entire NBA Finals on ABC 7 and the ESPN app.
Game 1: June 3 at Spurs
Game 2: June 5 at Spurs
Game 3: June 8 at Knicks
Game 4: June 10 at Knicks
Game 5*: June 13 at Spurs
Game 6*: June 16 at Knicks
Game 7*: June 19 at Spurs
* if necessary
All games tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET
Dec. 16: Knicks 124, Spurs 113
Dec. 31: Spurs 134, Knicks 132
March 1: Knicks 114, Spurs 89
After Feb. 1, the Spurs lost just two games in which Wembanyama played in the regular season. One was an overtime classic in Denver at the end of it. The other was a Sunday afternoon beatdown at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks defense was suffocating, forcing 21 turnovers and allowing the Spurs to shoot just 41%. Mikal Bridges led the Knicks with 25 points, five steals and five rebounds. It was a glimpse of what the Knicks could do defensively when locked in and continued a level of mastery over Wembanyama, who they slowed in December's NBA Cup title game in Las Vegas. -- Vincent Goodwill
New York must bottle up what helped it steamroll through the East bracket. It hasn't been just the Brunson show, although he gets a lion's share of credit. Every starter has had his moment in these playoffs.
Bridges, whose game has awakened after calls for his benching in the first three games of the first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, is shooting nearly 60% from the field. The unsung Anunoby is scoring nearly 20 points per game on elite efficiency. And when Towns stays out of foul trouble, his ability to stretch the floor and be a secondary facilitator could help keep Wembanyama out of the paint.
Have the Knicks, who will enter next week's Finals with nine days rest, been tested enough throughout this run? Closer games will be the expectation, but that's where Brunson comes in. There's no easy individual matchup for him to hunt late in games -- he will have to be fresh and excellent in the clutch to help the Knicks capture their first ring since 1973. -- Vincent Goodwill
It all starts and ends with Wembanyama. Although the series begins in San Antonio, it's worth pointing out just how much he loves to perform under the bright lights in the celebrity-laden atmosphere at Madison Square Garden.
Counting the NBA Cup final, San Antonio faced New York on three occasions during the regular season, with the Knicks taking two of those games. Wembanyama averaged 24.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in those matchups.
San Antonio's lack of success against New York in the regular season stems from the Knicks presenting major matchup issues for the Spurs. The Knicks' wing defenders swallow up San Antonio's shooters, and the Spurs will have to deal with physicality even more jaw rattling than what they navigated against Oklahoma City.
New York's depth in the frontcourt will also prove problematic for the Spurs with three big-time performers in Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, who is expected to play despite a broken right pinkie, patrolling the paint. The Spurs will need Wembanyama to be the best player on the floor for four games in this series for the inexperienced Spurs to have a shot. -- Michael C. Wright
