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After the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs defeated the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, they will host the East’s third-seeded New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals on Wednesday.
The Knicks opened the betting market as +170 underdogs in the best-of-seven series. The only teams to win as greater underdogs in NBA history, per Covers.com: the 2019 Toronto Raptors, 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2004 Detroit Pistons.
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The NBA Finals will for the first time in its history feature a rematch of the NBA Cup final. The Knicks defeated the Spurs in the third annual regular-season tournament, 124-113, when Wembanyama was still working on a minutes restriction off the bench.
The league must be licking its chops, what with New York, its largest media market, and Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 self-described “alien,” who has a chance to be one of the most special talents the game has ever seen, headlining its championship series.
We will dive deeper into the previewing here at Yahoo Sports, to be sure, but to tide you over until then here are three more reasons to watch when the games begin …
It’s been a long time, New York
The Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, when a Patrick Ewing-less edition lost to the Spurs in a best-of-seven finale to a lockout-shortened season, 4-1. They have not won a championship since 1973, when Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Dave DeBusschere, Phil Jackson and Jerry Lucas — indelible Hall of Famers, none of whom, we imagine, ever had to pay for a drink in New York again — won a second title in a four-year span (the only two rings in Knicks history).
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This is a big freaking deal. Basketball is the city’s sport. There is a court on every playground. Brooklyn was the birthplace of Michael Jordan. Harlem was home to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Long Island was where Julius Erving earned the name Dr. J.
You get the point. Basketball and New York are practically synonymous, except for the fact that the Knicks — the NBA team that has represented the city since the league’s inception…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2026-nba-finals-its-knicks-spurs-here-are-3-things-to-know-about-the-must-see-matchup-043212704.html
Author : Ben Rohrbach
Publish date : 2026-05-31 04:32:00
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