When it came down to crunch time under the brightest lights, New York Knicks superstar guard Jalen Brunson lived up to his nickname of Captain Clutch, and Victor Wembanyama shriveled.
Overcoming a 14-point third-quarter deficit, Brunson overcame a horrendous start and two injury scares to score 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including five massive points in the final two minutes, to clinch a 105-95 Game 1 victory for the Knicks at Frost Bank Center — their first win in the NBA Finals in 27 years.
He became just the second Knick ever to score 30 or more points in a Game 1 of the Finals, joining Willis Reed (1970).
After Brunson scored eight straight points to help New York open up a 94-86 lead with six minutes to go, the Knicks missed eight straight shots, and the Spurs reeled off nine straight points to take a one-point lead with 2:16 remaining.
But Brunson stepped up as the big man for the big occasion. He drained a corner three with 1:51 to go to put the Knicks up by two, which was doubled 40 seconds later after a pair of Mikal Bridges free throws.
Wembanyama, who was held to 26 points on 6-of-21 shooting, then dribbled the ball off his foot with a minute to go, sending the Knicks the other way. Brunson ultimately drained a heavily contested jumper over Devin Vassell.
OG Anunoby, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, drained four straight free throws to ice the Knicks’ 12th-straight playoff victory, keeping one of the greatest runs in NBA postseason history very much alive.
It looked as though their win streak was in serious jeopardy due to a miserable offensive start, which was in part created by the sheer presence of the unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Wembanyama. New York’s offense was out of sorts and a shell of the unit that sliced through the first three rounds of the playoffs for the majority of the first three quarters.
Brunson’s first issue came late in the first quarter when Landry Shamet shoved Harrison Barnes into his right knee on the final play of a Spurs 20-3 run, which gave them a 10-point edge at 27-17. It forced the Knicks star down the tunnel with 1:27 left in the opening stanza, and he did not return until the eight-minute mark of the second quarter.
Just 2:08 later, when, after making a driving layup and being knocked to the floor, Spurs forward Luke Kornet stepped on his right ankle. An irate Brunson eventually got up after holding his ankle and went after head referee Scott Foster.
New York’s dissatisfaction with Foster and the officiating crew was apparent early. In the first half, they attempted just three free throws compared to the Spurs’ 12.
Remarkably enough, Brunson refused treatment, stayed in the game, and scored six straight points to help the Knicks erase San Antonio’s big first-quarter run.
But a red-hot Julian Champagnie was unstoppable from three, though the majority of his looks were wide-open, and his fifth and final three-pointer of the first half came with 1.6 seconds to go to give the Spurs a 55-48 halftime lead.
He was held to just two points for the remainder of Game 1.
When Wembanyama was forced to the bench midway through the third quarter after knocking knees with Josh Hart, the Knicks made their move. A 7-0 run in which they shot 4-of-4 from the field after scoring just two points (1-of-9 shooting with Wembanyama on the floor) in the first 5:10 of the third quarter cut what was a 13-point Spurs lead to just six with 4:57 left.
Even when Wembanyama got back on the floor, the Knicks’ momentum continued. A pair of offensive rebounds and putbacks from Karl-Anthony Towns and a pull-up jumper by Brunson tied things up at 71 apiece with 1:55 left in the third.
Towns was brilliant in his efforts against Wembanyama, scoring 18 points with 12 rebounds.
A Deuce McBride three-pointer inside 10 seconds to go that was somehow banked off the backboard and in from the left corner knotted things up at 76 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was the first NBA Finals game to enter the fourth quarter tied since Game 6 of the 2021 championship round between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks.
