The San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks are meeting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Again. The last time these franchises faced off in the Finals was 1999 — the Spurs won that one en route to the first of five championships. Now the Knicks are back for the first time since then, carrying an 11-game postseason winning streak into the series.
Victor Wembanyama has guided the Spurs to their first Finals appearance since 2014. They dispatched the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday and will host Game 1 on Wednesday. The Knicks, by contrast, haven't played since last Monday — just four games since mid-May.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
FanDuel lists the Spurs as favorites at -205, with home-court advantage. That's what having Wemby does for a betting line.
Expert Picks
Botkin — Spurs in 7: There's a certain symmetry worth noticing here — the Knicks built a legitimate case all season, and they'd still lose to the biggest difference-maker in the sport. Wembanyama closes off the paint entirely, which happens to be where the Knicks do their heaviest damage. That collision alone decides it.
Gonzalez — Spurs in 6: The Knicks' 11-game winning streak boasts the largest point differential in NBA history over that span. That's impressive. Facing Wemby and this Spurs size is altogether different from rolling through Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Adam Silver gets his blockbusters either way.
Maloney — Spurs in 7: The Knicks dominated the restricted area in these playoffs — 29.6 attempts per game at 68.1%, plus 53.3 points in the paint. The Spurs ranked third in regular-season defensive rating and second in postseason defense. Something has to give. Wembanyama makes teams adjust how they play offense; that's not nothing.
Quinn — Knicks in 7: A nightmare pairing for San Antonio. OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson represent about as good a two-player answer to Wembanyama as exists. The Knicks will have played four games in 24 days when the Finals start. Fresh legs matter. The Spurs are banged up and just finished a seven-game war. The longer this goes, the better for New York.
What's at Stake
The Knicks possess the best offensive rating (123.3), defensive rating (103.5) and net rating (plus-19.8) among remaining teams. Their four 30-point wins and 11 double-digit victories through three series spoke for themselves — the competition simply wasn't on this level.
Mitchell Robinson's availability remains uncertain. If he can't go, the Knicks lose their physical presence against Wembanyama. If he can, it's seven games of attrition neither team backs down from.
Either way, this series has the makings of something that doesn't need much decoration — it already talks for itself.