Knicks in prime NBA Finals position thanks to their impressive bench

SAN ANTONIO — The unborn will know their names.

With another two wins, the Knicks will end the NBA’s most painful drought and capture their first championship in 53 years.

With two more wins, the names of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges will be passed down to future generations, just as Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley and Earl Monroe became famous to every Knicks fan too young to experience when the Garden was Eden.

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Every title team eventually gets whittled down to a small fraction of its contributors.

Even perhaps the greatest team of all time, the 1927 Yankees, has been filtered to little more than Ruth and Gehrig.

New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet reacts after scoring during the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

But you know better.

You know the Knicks wouldn’t hold a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals without the strength of their second unit — without names that will never reach the rafters (Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride).

“A lot of contributions from a lot of guys, and that’s why you like having a team because it could be anybody’s night on any given night,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said following the 105-104 Game 2 win. “Our guys don’t care. They sacrifice for one another and we found a way to get a win.”

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The Knicks bench was instrumental in the Game 1 win in San Antonio, producing 28 points, along with four assists from McBride, and a combined 10 rebounds from Alvarado and Robinson.

In Game 2, Brown needed even more, as Brunson shot 7-for-25, Hart was held scoreless and Towns was limited to four second-half points.

For a stretch of more than five crucial minutes — from the 3:19 mark of the third quarter through the 10:15 mark of the fourth quarter — Brown sat Brunson and Towns, opting for a lineup of Shamet, Robinson, Alvarado, McBride and Bridges.

Mitchell Robinson dunks over Victor Wembanyama in Game 2. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

During that span, the Knicks lead grew from four to 12, eventually settling at 87-78…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-prime-nba-finals-position-031654387.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-07 03:16:00

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