The Game Turned Late
The New York Knicks are now a -500 favorite at Draft Kings to win the 2026 NBA championship. Up 2-0 over the San Antonio Spurs after Friday night's thriller, they are just two wins away from one of the most striking postseason turnarounds in NBA history. Remember, they were essentially a 30-to-1 championship underdog when trailing the Atlanta Hawks 2-1 in the first round.
Only three road teams have ever won the first two games of the NBA Finals. The Knicks are one of them, joining the 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets. Both of those teams won the championship. The Knicks are currently on a 13-game playoff winning streak. The only other team with a 13-game winning streak across a single postseason is the 2017 Golden State Warriors.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
During this winning streak, the Knicks have out-rebounded their opponents by 113 and out-assisted them by 92. They have outscored their playoff opponents by 282 total points this postseason — by far the best point differential in playoff history. The next 12 highest playoff point differentials all won championships.
The Small Details Added Up
The Knicks will return to Madison Square Garden on Monday. It will be their first home game in two-and-a-half weeks. They can end their season without ever getting on a plane and playing another road game.
Mikal Bridges had a message for the team after Game 2. When asked about his mindset going into Game 3, he succinctly summed it up: "Zero-zero. Stay desperate at all times."
Bridges can speak from experience. Only four teams in NBA history have blown a 2-0 Finals lead. Bridges is the only Knicks player who's been a part of one of them. His 2021 Phoenix Suns took the first two games against the Milwaukee Bucks before losing four straight and handing Giannis Antetokounmpo the title.
The Table Looks Different
They're making history, but the numbers don't need any help from the narrative. The record already does the talking.
The Knicks have all of the tools they'll need to finally get that 53-year-old monkey off of their back. They have the history. They have players that San Antonio has thus far proven incapable of countering. And perhaps most importantly, they have the lessons from their past two playoff runs. Bridges sent the right message after Game 2. No matter how certain all of this may feel, desperation is what will get the Knicks across the finish line.