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NBA finals 2026 Game 1: New York Knicks v San Antonio Spurs – live | NBA finals
Key events
Knicks 28-31 Spurs, 8:03, 2nd qtr: Wemby hits two free throws. The Spurs are 7-for-8 from the line. The Knicks are 0-for-0, a 0% mark.
Alvarado gets two for the Knicks. Anunoby gets a steal, but the Knicks can’t convert.
Then there’s a miss. And a miss. And another miss.
But the Knicks may finally get to the line as Wemby fouls Towns. The Spurs, outscored 9-4 so far in the quarter, will challenge the call.
Knicks 26-29 Spurs, 9:58, 2nd qtr: The Knicks are playing decent defense, and they force Wemby to launch a low-percentage long-range 3. But the rebound eludes them, and the Spurs get another chance. They miss that one, and Miles McBride hits a 3 with Wemby running at him.
Anunoby steals one from Wemby. Towns drives past Wemby again as he did in the first quarter, but Wemby recovers with a block. Jose Alvarado gets a shot and does the smart play – getting the ball immediately on the glass so that Wemby’s block is called for goaltending. Phew. What a sequence.
As I type, Castle and Towns trade baskets, and Towns beats Wemby on the dribble again and shields the ball well this time.
Stats
The leading scorer in the game didn’t start. It’s Dylan Harper with 10 for San Antonio. Champagnie has six (two threes) and Wemby has five. The leading San Antonio rebounders are Champagnie (five) and Castle (four). Wemby only has one.
OG Anunoby leads the Knicks with five points. Josh Hart has five rebounds and a block.
Knicks shooting: 8-for-24, a percentage even a weak math student can convert. The Spurs are just 9-for-25 but have five points on free throws, while the Knicks haven’t made it to the line.
Knicks 19-27 Spurs, end first quarter
Brunson is going to the locker room. Mikal Bridges alertly scores on a tip-in for a rare Knicks bucket, and neither team puts on an effective offensive show in the last minute, so New York ends the quarter on a 2-0 run. Every journey begins with a small step, right?
Knicks 17-27 Spurs, 1:27, 1st qtr: Brunson misses an awkward jumper. The Knicks star hasn’t had much success since the first shot of the game.
Champagnie hits another corner three and is fouled but misses the free throw.
The Knicks bungle things again, and we get more of the Dylan Harper show, as he hits a tough floater.
Timeout, New York – and Brunson came up limping after a player fell into his knee.
Kornet replaced Wemby with 5:27 left in the quarters. The Knicks led 14-10. Yes, the Spurs have outscored the Knicks 12-3 without the player expected to be the best player in basketball over the next 10 years or so.
Knicks 17-22 Spurs, 2:33, 1st qtr: Harper hits a long two … no, wait, it’s three, as replay confirms. Shamet answers for the Knicks to end their drought, but Champagnie hits from the corner, and the Spurs suddenly can’t miss.
Mitchell Robinson has entered the game and gathered a rebound for the Knicks, who have understandably just called timeout.
Knicks 14-16 Spurs, 3:49, 1st qtr: Luke Kornet has replaced Wemby, and while he won’t be chasing down his teammate for MVP honors anytime soon, he proves to be a defensive menace.
Dylan Harper snares an errant Knicks pass and is off to the races, drawing a foul. He hits both free throws.
Another bad Knicks pass, an alley-oop broken up by Kornet, sends Harper into open space again. He scores and draws a foul, then hits the free throws. That’s a 9-0 run, and the Spurs lead.
Knicks 14-11 Spurs, 5:00, 1st qtr: Stephon Castle, another of the Spurs’ young stars, gets a friendly bounce on a jumper. After some back and forth, Castle gets under the rim and draws a foul from Hart, his second in quick succession. Castle hits two free throws, and now the lead is just three.
Knicks 14-7 Spurs, 6:15, 1st qtr: Towns faces off against Wemby at the top of the arc and then pivots past him like he’s Messi against a traffic cone. Easy layup, even against a player with the wingspan of a cargo plane.
Knicks 12-7 Spurs, 7:28, 1st qtr: Things are messy. A scramble for the ball somehow ends up with Hart racing down an unguarded free throw lane for a layup. On his next trip down, he tries again with Wemby at the rim, and that’s a bad idea. Block, then a 3-pointer for the Spurs superstar.
De’Aaron Fox misses a wide-open corner three for the Spurs. Karl-Anthony Towns scores for the Knicks, and the Spurs will take a timeout. It’s not quite getting away from them early, but they could use a moment to settle down.
Knicks 6-2 Spurs, 10:20, 1st qtr: Referee Scott Foster is mic’d up. He yells like an auctioneer before throwing the ball up.
And we’re off. Knicks have possession, and Jalen Brunson drains a 3-pointer. Wemby hits a pullup jumper. The Knicks come back with Josh Hart winning a rebounding battle and tossing out to OG Anunoby for a corner three.
The national anthem is being performed by Tori Kelly, who waits a couple of seconds before starting and is gesturing as if something is wrong with her microphone. Sounds fine when she starts singing.
Let’s see what the Spurs have put together for their pregame … it’s set to the Kendrick Lamar song DNA and involves way too much pyro.
Everyone’s still trying to catch up with the classic Chicago Bulls intro. That had to be good for about 10 points a game. I think I’d want to hide under a chair if I was on the visiting team.
Are we actually about to start? I guess the 45-minute countdown a while back was … a test? Well, OK. Here we go.
From the inbox …
Ron Stack predicts Knicks in six: “I’m sure I saw the 1970 series although I was very young and don’t remember it. But as a New York sports fan from Long Island I remember consecutive disappointments from the Mets and Jets, as well as the Knicks and Rangers (no love for the Yanks or Giants and I had some beef with the Islanders that I can’t remember).
“I say Knicks in six because it sounds cool, but either they solve Wemby or they don’t. If they do, they can win it in five. If they don’t, they can lose it in five. I loved the series with OKC but I don’t see this as a battle of equals fighting it out in Game 7.”
******
Mac Milling: “Yes! ‘Relentless’ will also be Nandor to me. Three of my favorite shows of the last decade are all Waititi-adjacent – What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death, and Reservation Dogs – which is odd, because Thor Love and Thunder is perhaps my least favorite film in that span.”
Knicks coach Mike Young on Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “He’s light-years in front of me. He’s a way better coach than I was when I was a young guy.”
Unsurprising stat
The team that wins Game 1 of the Finals wins the series 69.6% of the time. Being one game closer to victory certainly helps. There’s also the matter of home-court advantage – the winner of Game 1 is either already taking advantage of the advantage or has negated it.
A clock on top of the basket is counting down from 45 minutes. I’ve forgotten the advanced math I learned in high school, but I’m getting the impression we won’t have tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET. Pretty sure 45 > 12.
In a pregame interview, the awe-inspiring Spurs center Victor Wembanyana (I’ll be saying “Wemby” from here on) refers to his team as “relentless.” Does anyone else immediately think of Nandor from What We Do in the Shadows upon hearing that word?
Injury report
The Spurs are healthy.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has a broken right pinky but has dressed for the game and is available.
The waiting is the hardest part
The last time the Spurs won the NBA championship, Kawhi Leonard was the Finals MVP. The team had veteran leadership in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The No. 1 song was Happy, by Pharrell Williams. Others in the top 10 included John Legend, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande.
That was the scene in 2014. It’s been a little while, but these names are all familiar to most people over age 20. Certainly people over 30.
The last time the Knicks won the NBA championship, the Finals MVP was Willis Reed. Their leading scorer was Walt Frazier. The other All-Stars were Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley. People under age 35 probably don’t even remember when Bradley was a legitimate presidential contender, let alone an All-Star in the NBA. All in the Family and Sanford and Son were TV ratings juggernauts. Tony Orlando and Dawn had the year’s top song, Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree. The Vietnam War was still going.
You get the point. It’s been 53 years. Technically, the Knicks have won the NBA championship in my lifetime, but I was too young to remember. I only know about the Knicks of 1970 and 1973 from DeBusschere’s book, The Open Man: A Championship Diary. (I was in a couple of classes with his daughter in college and didn’t make the connection until after graduation. I am not smart.)
So sentimentality will surely favor the Knicks here. Those who want to see the official start of the Wemby era will favor the Spurs.
Let me know who you’re supporting and why. No judgment here.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how are writers see the series ending:
Your winner will be …
Knicks 4-2 Spurs. I’ll be the first to admit that I did not think the San Antonio Spurs would be this ahead of schedule. As impressed as I was with their first two rounds of play, I still thought they were a year away, and predicted that the conference finals were their ceiling. I stand corrected: they’re really, really good, and Wembanyama looks like the best player on Earth. But New York present a unique challenge, with far more ball handling and shot creation than the Spurs have faced thus far (they came up against an Oklahoma team missing two of their best in that department in Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell). The Knicks are on a heater the likes of which I’ve never seen in an NBA playoffs, and it’s been largely written off as the spoils of the weaker East. But they’re for real, and primed to play spoiler to the Spurs’ magical ride from lottery to finals. San Antonio will win at least one, if not several titles in the Wembanyama era. But this year, my money’s on the Knicks. Claire de Lune
Knicks 4-1 Spurs. The Knicks will frustrate Wemby, they will share the ball in a way the 1970s pass-first Knicks would relish. Towns will continue to unwind all the soft parts of his game. Anunoby will get to the basket with determined physicality. Mikal Bridges will slash and drain from mid-range. Brunson will take over down the stretch and Robinson, bad pinky and all, may even hit a few foul shots. As Nikola Jokić once said: “When is parade?” David Lengel
Spurs 4-2 Knicks. A Knicks win won’t surprise – they fared well against the Spurs during the regular season, they’re fresher, and they’ve been more dominant in the playoffs – but Wembanyama is transcendent and his supporting cast fits perfectly around him. After watching San Antonio overcome the Thunder in Oklahoma City, it’s too hard to bet against them knocking off anybody else. Owen Lewis
Spurs 4-3 Knicks. In our preseason predictions, I picked the Knicks to clinch an NBA finals berth, although I didn’t think they’d do it in such a dominant fashion. But the Knicks’ uncomplicated journey to the finals could be both a gift and a curse: after enduring a rigorous seven-game series against the defending champions, the Spurs are more battle-tested than New York. Their defensive discipline will halt the Knicks’ surging offense, and Wemby will be the series’ biggest X-factor. By the time the title is decided, it will be clear that the Wembanyama era has arrived. AR Shaw
You can read more detailed series predictions here:
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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