The 2026 NBA Finals opened Tuesday night in San Antonio with Game 1 between the New York Knicks and the host Spurs, a matchup that put the Larry O'Brien Trophy in play as the league’s longest season reached its final stage. Tipoff was set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
For the Knicks, this was the moment they had been building toward all year. Jalen Brunson was in San Antonio with New York, Karl-Anthony Towns was part of the lineup picture, and Patrick Ewing was in the building as the franchise chased a title that would end a 53-year championship dry spell. The Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, were looking at the chance to start what could become a second dynasty.
Mitchell Robinson was the name hanging over the Knicks’ frontcourt before the ball went up. He was listed as questionable for Game 1 because of a fractured right fifth metacarpal bone, a detail that mattered because every possession carries more weight in June than it does anywhere else on the calendar. If he played, New York could get another body to match San Antonio’s size. If he did not, the Knicks would have to manage the Finals opener without one of their most physical defenders.
The teams also arrived with the kind of social-media swagger that tends to appear only when the stage is this big. The Knicks posted on June 2, “This team. This city. It's got the look. #AlwaysKnicks,” while the Spurs wrote on June 3, “It all starts tonight 🏆#PorVida | @HEB | @Ledger.” That was the tone around a matchup that needed no extra sales pitch: two storied franchises, one opening game, and a series that could shape how both teams are remembered for years.
Game 1 was only the first test, but it was the one that set the terms for everything after it. A Knicks win would move them one step closer to ending a drought that has defined generations of fans. A Spurs win would give Wembanyama and San Antonio an early claim on a championship stage that could belong to them for a long time.
