Watch the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs starting Wednesday on ABC 7
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The New York Knicks continued their playoff hot streak, beating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night in Texas.
The Knicks, who finished on an 11-0 run, made a little more history. They became the first team to beat San Antonio in a Game 1 of the title series - the Spurs were 6-0 in those - and this is also the first time the Spurs have ever trailed a finals before the finish.
New York has now won 12 straight playoff games, with a chance to push the streak to 13 on Friday night in Game 2.
This NBA Finals matchup has a lot of similarities with the last time the Knicks made the finals in 1999.
The Spurs were their opponent that year and just so happened to have a generational big-man talent who was heading to the title round for the first time.
Back then for the Spurs, it was Tim Duncan. This time for the Spurs, it's Victor Wembanyama.
But that's where the Knicks are hoping the similarities end. The team lost to the Spurs in five games in 1999, but after winning Game 1 on Wednesday, this New York squad is writing their own script as it looks to win its first championship in 53 years.
Channel 7 is your home for the NBA Finals.
Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, and Anthony Johnson is on the road in San Antonio. You can watch their reports on Eyewitness News.
President Trump said Knicks owner James Dolan invited him to the NBA finals.
"The answer is, yes he's invited me, I'm going," Trump said. "It could be Monday, maybe I'll do both."
Trump says he has been a fan of the Knicks for a long time and they are an "amazing" team.
A group of Knicks fans got an unexpected surprise after Wednesday's game when they spotted Mayor Zohran Mamdani's SUV stopped at a red light in Midtown.
That is when a celebration broke out.
The mayor says he plans to attend Game 3 at Madison Square Garden when the series shifts to NYC next week.
After the Knicks victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Karl-Anthony Towns said he felt his late mother's presence during the game.
The Knicks star has been open about dealing with his grief. Towns' mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died at 59 on April 13, 2020.
Towns grew up in a tight family and was very close to his mother. He had previously said he had tried to channel his emotions from her death and find a "different source of strength."
