The Finals MVP race is still wide open after three games of the 2026 NBA Finals, and the Knicks and Spurs have made sure of it. Jalen Brunson has been the steadiest New York option so far, but Victor Wembanyama’s 32-point Game 3 turned the series back toward San Antonio and kept the award chase unsettled.
That is why finals mvp odds are drawing so much attention today: the series is no longer sitting on New York’s 2-0 start alone. Through the first three games, Brunson averaged over 27 points while fighting through injury and a very physical San Antonio defense, which gave him a real early case for the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award.
Brunson’s production has come with no shortage of help around him. Karl-Anthony Towns got early MVP buzz for his defense on Wembanyama and his work as a facilitator in the Knicks offense, while OG Anunoby took some of the Wemby assignment and has been perhaps New York’s most reliable offensive weapon. That mix is why the Knicks looked like they might control the conversation when they opened the series with a pair of road wins.
Game 3 changed the shape of it. The Spurs won at Madison Square Garden, and Wembanyama answered with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks, the kind of all-court line that can pull a Finals MVP race in a different direction. It also exposed the problem New York faces now: the Knicks have a stronger team case than one game can erase, but the award is not handed out for cumulative comfort. It is still being decided on the star power that lands hardest by the end of the series.
The history of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award leaves room for surprises, too. The trophy was named for Russell in 2009, and its list of winners includes 12 multi-time champions, with Michael Jordan winning it six times, Magic Johnson three times, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird twice each. That makes the current race feel familiar in one sense and unsettled in another, because the numbers through three games do not point to a finished verdict.
All three games have tipped at 8:30 p.m. ET, and the next one should matter even more because the series has already shown it can turn quickly. If the Knicks close this out, Brunson’s edge could harden into a trophy. If the Spurs keep climbing back behind Wembanyama, the Finals MVP conversation could swing again before next week decides it for good.
