The New York Knicks won Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and Victor Wembanyama’s night made the adjustment for Game 2 impossible to miss. The Spurs’ 7-foot-4 centerpiece shot 6-for-21, scored much of his offense away from the paint and now has to deliver more on both ends when the series resumes Friday.
That is why the Knicks Game search matters today: Game 2 is set for Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC, and the first game showed both what New York wants to do and what San Antonio has to solve. Wembanyama took 21 shots in the opener, but only nine came in the paint, where he made four of them. For a player whose size is supposed to bend a defense, that split was too thin for a team that needs him to be more than a scorer.
New York still had its own problems on offense and won anyway. Game 1 was the Knicks’ worst offensive game of the playoffs and the Spurs’ third-worst offensive game of the season, yet the Knicks got enough late to hold on after San Antonio briefly seized the lead when New York went scoreless on six straight possessions in the fourth quarter. Jalen Brunson finished it with a fadeaway against Devin Vassell in the final minute, the kind of shot that can erase a messy night when nothing else is working.
That mess was real. The Knicks, who coach Mike Brown said want to play fast, took 34 shots in the last seven seconds of the clock and went 9-for-34 from those situations, including 3-for-12 from 3-point range. It was not the clean, flowing offense New York would prefer, but it still had enough structure to punish the Spurs when the game slowed down. The final score reflected a Finals opener that was intense and entertaining, even if both teams have reason to think they can play much better.
The friction for San Antonio is that Wembanyama’s next step is not only about making more shots. The Spurs need him to play big on defense, too, against a Knicks team that is built around rim protection and is willing to live with the perimeter looks that come with it. If he can establish better post position and get easier looks near the basket, Game 2 could look very different. If he cannot, the Knicks have already shown they can survive an ugly night and still take control.
Friday will answer whether San Antonio can put Wembanyama closer to the rim and make his size matter the way it has to in a Finals series. The opener showed the margin is small, but it also showed the Spurs are asking their star to solve the game from too far away.
