The New York Knicks held off a furious fourth-quarter comeback from the San Antonio Spurs, winning 105-104 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals after Victor Wembanyama missed a last-second shot.
The win extends the Knicks’ playoff win streak to 13, the second longest in NBA playoff history.
With a 2-0 series lead, New York is now two victories away from not only tying an NBA record but from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time since 1973. With the win, the Knicks became the third team to win the first two games of an NBA Finals on the road, joining the 1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets.
Both teams went on to win the championship.
Just like Game 1, it was a heavyweight bout between two of the premier teams in the NBA.
For the second game in a row, the Spurs looked like the better team coming out of the gates, jumping out to a 35-24 lead.
But the second quarter showed that the game was about to become a classic, with the Knicks surging their way back into the contest behind the brilliance of Karl-Anthony Towns.
The 30-year-old center scored 17 points in the first half, nearly matching his Game 1 total of 18 as New York took its first lead of the game with 3:39 left in the second quarter.
The Knicks went into halftime with a four-point advantage and quickly grew their lead to 10 after an 11-5 run to start the third quarter, quieting the raucous San Antonio crowd at the same time.
With the physicality picking up, Towns picked up his third and fourth fouls of the game, forcing him to the bench, which ushered in the Victor Wembanyama show.
The 22-year-old French phenom, who had another quiet game up to that point, scored 12 of his 29 points in the third quarter, most coming without Towns on the floor.
However, the Spurs punch was answered by the Knicks’ tenacious offense and defense, with New York holding onto the lead entering the final quarter.
San Antonio flashed its quality in short spurts all game, but the offense really started to show some signs of life in the fourth, cutting the lead to just five points with just over nine minutes left.
That picked up the game’s energy as both teams started to get chippy, all starting from Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox getting into Knicks star Jalen Brunson’s face. Knicks assistant coach and Jalen’s father, Rick Brunson, appeared to have to be held back by head coach Mike Brown.
The chippiness inspired the Knicks to take their largest lead of the game with just over six minutes to play, but that’s all the Spurs needed to truly get back into it – and an intense pep talk from Wembanayama.
San Antonio went on a 14-0 run to tie the game at 97 with the Knicks’ offense going ice cold, shooting 0-6 while the Spurs went 5-5 from the field.
Back-and-forth both squads went until Wembanyama drove into the paint and made an and-one layup to give the Spurs their first lead of the second half.
But Brunson quickly made a step-back jumper to tie the game up at 104 with 39 seconds left.
The key play came with fewer than 30 seconds to play. Brunson fired a jumper and missed, with Wembanyama grabbing the rebound. The young superstar tried to make a quick outlet pass, but hit teammate Stephon Castle – who wasn’t expecting the pass – in the back with the ball, leading to a turnover and a quick foul from Wembanyama on Brunson.
The former Villanova Wildcat made one of two free throws, giving Wembanyama and the Spurs the chance to win the game with just over seven seconds left.
It wasn’t to be, as Wembanayama had an open jumper just inside the 3-point line. The shot was too strong and bounced off the rim, hitting the ground as the clock expired, allowing the thrilled Knicks to avoid a devastating collapse.
Wembanyama finished with a game-high 29 points along with nine rebounds and four blocks.
Wembanyama offered up his assesment on the final three possessions of the game, admitting he was still “very blurry” about it.
“And that’s the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game,” Wembanyama told reporters. “I am not going to go through the whole possessions, but that’s the general image.”
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year also said that he liked the final shot, adding that he needed to “shoot to score.”
“We just need to score, I need to score, that’s the whole point,” Wembanyama said.
But the true star was Towns, who ended with 21 points and 13 rebounds on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting. Brunson and Mikal Bridges each added 20 points.
Towns, who lost his mother during the Covid-19 pandemic, told the ABC broadcast that he “needed a stop” when asked what he was saying to her when looking up at the sky after the buzzer.
“I needed a stop. It’s amazing – as you go through life, if you lose a parent, anyone who’s listening, you just look for signs,” Towns said.
“I’ll take any sign I could get, and I prayed to her strong before that possession. A great player got a great shot, it just didn’t go in. … I take it as a sign that my mom was here for me.”
Game 3 is scheduled for Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York at 8:30 p.m ET, and President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
