2026 NBA Finals: Important plays, lessons from Knicks-Spurs Game 2
The New York Knicks had no business winning Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals. They had already stolen home-court advantage from the San Antonio Spurs with a road win in Game 1, so they would have been forgiven a letdown two nights later.
History suggested they would lose, likely by double digits: Entering this series, road teams that won Game 1 of the Finals were just 2-16 in the ensuing Game 2, with an average minus-11.3 scoring margin. And the Spurs had responded to a Game 1 defeat at home in the second round, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a 38-point blowout win in Game 2.
But that's not what transpired in San Antonio on Friday night. Instead, the Knicks survived a late-game collapse with a 105-104 victory, extending their win streak to 13 games and bringing them just two wins away from a long-awaited championship.
Given that opportunity, Madison Square Garden might set indoor decibel records on Monday, when the series shifts to New York for Game 3 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN app). But first, let's break down a Game 2 classic from all angles, from its most important plays to the key lineup decisions and players to watch as the Spurs attempt to save their season.
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The most important plays of Game 2
Game 2's thrilling finish means we have to start at the end.
Exactly halfway through the fourth quarter, the Knicks led by 14 points following an OG Anunoby dunk against Victor Wembanyama, and a 2-0 series lead seemed all but assured. At that moment, according to ESPN Analytics, New York had a 98.2% chance to win the game.
But the Spurs came back in a flurry. Led primarily by the left-handed backcourt duo of Dylan Harper andDe'Aaron Fox, the Spurs scored 14 consecutive points to tie the score and set up a hectic final few minutes.
That's when Wembyanama took center stage for San Antonio -- both for good and for ill.
On the positive side, the 22-year-old superstar scored repeatedly around the basket. During San Antonio's 14-0 run, heused a nifty post move to kiss a lefty layup off the glass. And in the final minutes, he both converted an alley-oop dunk and scored an and-1 layup after running the floor in transition, giving the Spurs their first lead of the second half.
But Wembanyama struggled farther out from the basket. He was 0-for-3 on jump shots in the clutch, first air-balling an out-of-control step-back 3-pointer ...
... then clanking a midrange jumper that would have given San Antonio the lead in the final minute ...
... and, finally, missing a would-be winner on the final shot of the game.
In between those last two misses, Wembanyama committed the turnover that lost Game 2 for the Spurs. After Jalen Brunson missed his own attempt at a go-ahead midrange jumper, Wembanyama grabbed the rebound with 13 seconds left. San Antonio decided not to call its final timeout -- a reasonable decision, given that New York had an offense-first lineup in the game. A stoppage would have allowed Knicks coach Mike Brown to insert his best defenders for the final play.
But Wembanyama and Stephon Castle weren't on the same page: As the center threw an outlet pass for his guard, Castle turned his head to sprint up the floor. The ball seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before bouncing off Castle's back and right into Brunson's hands. Wembanyama bumped him on the sideline, Brunson sank a free throw and the Knicks stole another win on the road.
A critical analysis of those errors might miss the forest for the trees. After all, Wembanyama was a key reason the Spurs were even in position to win Game 2 in the final minute: He made up for a lackluster first half with more aggression after halftime and finished with a game-high 29 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals. The Spurs were plus-six in his 40 minutes.
But in this postseason, the 22-year-old center is staking a claim as the best player in the world, and that requires holding him to a higher standard. Forget the turnover for a second, which can be chalked up to miscommunication and inexperience. The two late midrange jumpers Wembanyama missed weren't easy shots, but they weren't terrible looks, either, especially given the game situation: San Antonio was clearly angling for a 2-for-1 opportunity with the first, and the second gave him a clean shot at the basket with the clock winding down.
Both attempts came between 20 and 21 feet away from the basket, with a close defender. Entering Friday's game, Wembanyama had made 34% (11-for-32) of shots fitting those criteria in his career, per GeniusIQ. Similarly, the tracking data says the shooter-specific quantified shot probability on his end-of-game attempts in Game 2 was 36%.
That's essentially a pair of one-in-three chances to win a Finals game. Wembanyama missed them both.
But that's how the ball bounces in a make-or-miss sport; it's a narrow margin on the highest stage, and titles have been decided by less. As Wembanyama told reporters after the game, "In moments like this, results matter more than process. ... I need to score."
The same sentiment could apply more broadly to his team, as Wembanyama's late-game misses were merely the climactic manifestation of the Spurs' series-long struggles to score.
After the Spurs finished with a 96.0 offensive rating in Game 1, they posted a 105.1 mark in Game 2. That's better, but it still would have ranked last in the NBA in the regular season.
In Game 1, the Spurs' problem was primarily a lack of shotmaking. Their shot quality was decent, but they were unlucky to miss so many open looks.
In Game 2, though, San Antonio scarcely generated any open looks in the first place. The Spurs' expected eFG was just 48% on Friday, per GeniusIQ. That's their worst shot quality in any game this season, and the worst for any team in a Finals game since 2019.
For large stretches in this series, the Spurs have looked tired, sloppy -- Wembanyama committed two bad pass turnovers just before halftime on Friday, presaging his game-losing turnover -- and simply unable to break down a cohesive Knicks defense.
In Game 2, outside an opening surge and their 14-0 fourth-quarter run, the Spurs too often settled for contested jumpers or reckless drives into traffic. Their halfcourt offense is so stuck in the mud that they can score consistently only with a numbers advantage in transition -- but the Knicks don't commit many turnovers, and the Spurs' defensive system isn't built to force enough.
One turnover now looms over all the rest. There are many famous on-court gaffes in basketball history, and Wembanyama's errant pass isn't at the level of Chris Webber calling a timeout he didn't have in the 1993 NCAA championship game or JR Smith forgetting the score in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals. But if the Spurs lose this series -- as they're clearly favored to do, now that they've lost the first two games at home -- then this giveaway will linger for a long time in San Antonio.
"I'm still very blurry, and that's the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game," Wembanyama said about the late-game foibles. About the turnover, he added, "I threw that one away. I messed up."
He still has another opportunity for redemption, starting after a much-needed extra day of rest this weekend. But at the buzzer in Game 2, his first chance rimmed out.
Three key rotation decisions for the Spurs
1. Expect Spurs coach Mitch Johnson to call on Harper even more in Game 3. The rookie spark plug was once again one of the Spurs' best players in Game 2, scoring 15 points off the bench and making numerous massive plays down the stretch. He played 32 minutes, his second most in any game this postseason. (His high was 47 minutes in Game 1 of the conference finals, when the Spurs were missing Fox and went to double overtime.)
Using Harper alongside his fellow lottery luck youngsters continues to pay dividends. In the regular season, the Wembanyama-Harper-Castle trio posted an outrageous plus-38.7 net rating, the second best among 1,937 three-man units that played at least 150 minutes. (The best was the Spurs' Wembanyama-Harper-Devin Vassell trio.) And in the playoffs, that trio has a plus-17.7 net rating.
Johnson is already using this lineup with greater urgency as the stakes rise. Wembanyama, Castle and Harper have spent at least 20 offensive possessions together in nine games this season. Seven have come in the playoffs, including both Finals games, and an eighth came in the NBA Cup final against New York in December.
2. Dating back to the start of the conference finals, the Spurs have been outscored by 52 points in 92 minutes with Luke Kornet on the floor, including seven points in 10 minutes in Game 1 of the Finals and another seven points in eight minutes in Game 2. San Antonio won the only two games in that span in which Kornet had a positive plus-minus (Games 6 and 7 against theOklahoma City Thunder).
Kornet isn't a bad backup center, but he's a massive downgrade compared to the third-place MVP finisher, so the Knicks are feasting when Wembanyama leaves the floor.
There's no easy solution to this issue, however. Wembanyama is already effectively at his limit for playing time, after looking fatigued for large stretches during his 38-minute outing in Game 1 and 40-minute outing in Game 2. And Johnson doesn't have a small-ball alignment he can turn to in Kornet's place -- backup forwards Harrison Barnes and Carter Bryant played a combined eight scoreless minutes in Game 2, and Mitchell Robinson would eviscerate small-ball groups on the offensive glass.
The best Johnson can do in New York is turn those situations into all-hands-on-deck stints, with every key Spur except Wembanyama on the floor, and hope his team can tread water. Kornet came up big in Oklahoma City in Game 7 in the last round, and he'll need to do the same again in New York.
3. Beyond Harper and Kornet, does Johnson have any reserve he can count on in this series? Typically, role players are better at home than on the road, but Knicks reserves Landry Shamet, Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado and Robinson all made big plays at various points in San Antonio, combining for 27 points in Game 2. The Spurs' backups, meanwhile, had 19 total points: 15 from Harper and four from everyone else.
This is a problem for San Antonio for several reasons, not least of which is that the Knicks are already the better-rested team in these Finals, and now they have more depth and lineup versatility, too. Ineffective minutes from Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson (six points on 25% shooting in 24 total minutes in the Finals) have been an underrated factor in the Spurs' offensive struggles.
Notes and loose ends looking ahead to Game 3
As I write this just after midnight early Saturday morning, Jalen Brunson is a strong favorite to win Finals MVP, according to the DraftKings Sportsbook. He is the Knicks' leading scorer and their go-to creator in the clutch; he sank the game-winning 3-pointer in Game 1 and the game-winning free throw in Game 2.
But Brunson is shooting 34% from the field in the Finals after a 7-for-25 showing in Game 2. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns has been the best all-around player in this series, following up his superb Game 1 effort with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 8-for-12 shooting in Game 2.
This isn't betting advice, to be clear. I have other colleagues who can steer you more capably in that direction. But Towns continues to outplay Wembanyama, and he would easily have my vote as the Finals MVP through the first two games.
Amid the broader defensive battle in this series, some scintillating offensive sequences still stand out. Consider, for instance, the Spurs' opening possession of Game 2, which featured four passes in quick succession and ended with a Vassell 3-pointer.
On the other end, look at this Knicks beauty from the second quarter, as they patiently strung four drive-and-kick moves in a row until they cracked an opening in the Spurs' help, and Mikal Bridges sank an open 3 as the shot clock expired.
Both teams' length and defensive intensity means this sort of brilliant ball movement is all but required to create an open shot.
For half a season three years ago, after he went to the Nets in the Kevin Durant blockbuster trade, Bridges transformed into one of the best high-volume scorers in the NBA. He had always been a secondary offensive option on the Suns, but his usage rate spiked from 19.2% in Phoenix to 30.3% in Brooklyn, and his points per game leaped from 17 to 26.
So when the Knicks traded five first-round picks and a swap for Bridges, a zero-time All-Star, part of their rationale was that his expanded offensive repertoire would make him a strong second option behind Brunson. That plan never really materialized, however: Bridges' scoring and usage dropped across his two seasons as a Knick, and just six weeks ago he was facing loud calls to be benched, following a largely invisible performance in the first round against Atlanta.
But Bridges has regained his offensive mojo over the past three playoff rounds, and his ability to create his own shot provided a huge boost in a tense moment in Game 2.
With 3:19 left in the third quarter and the Knicks up by four, Brunson, Towns and Anunoby were all on the bench; it seemed like a perfect time for the Spurs to retake the lead. But in the absence of New York's top three offensive options, McBride made a midrange jumper, and Bridges stepped into two of his own. On the next possession, he tossed an alley-oop lob to Robinson. All of a sudden, a four-point advantage had grown to 11.
Bridges scored 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting and dished out the ball for six assists in Game 2. Most of those buckets came as he played off Brunson and Towns. But for a few crucial minutes, Brooklyn Bridges returned, just as New York hoped when it acquired him.
New York became the third team in Finals history to win the first two games away from home. The first two were both defending champions: the 1993 Chicago Bulls (winning in Phoenix) and the 1995 Houston Rockets (winning in Orlando), both of whom won the Finals after their first two victories on the road.
The Knicks, of course, didn't win the title last season, but they're playing with the poise and late-game calm that befits a champion. Whether they can follow the '93 Bulls and '95 Rockets all the way to the finish line remains to be seen.
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