The New York Knicks have the “young wild one”. San Antonio Spurs Defied basketball superstar Victor Wembanyama and achieved the first victory of the NBA Finals. It was the Knicks’ twelfth playoff win in a row.
In the away game at Spurs, German center Ariel Hukporti’s team won game one Best of seven-Series 105:95 and took the first small step towards their third NBA title – the first since 1973.
San Antonio, which is in the final of the Western Conference Defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder had been switched off, was lacking efficiency at the beginning, but then hit his shots better and better and took a double-digit lead in the first quarter. The youngest finalist since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 impressed with many strong moves, especially on defense.
Jalen Brunson becomes the match winner
But the Knicks fought back again and again when the Spurs, led by Wembanyama, threatened to pull away. At the start of the final quarter the score was 76:76. They kept it in the final phase Curtsy The cooler head, Jalen Brunson led his team to victory with important baskets and a total of 30 points.
“There were a lot of things we could have done better, but I think our cohesion was ultimately the difference.”said Brunson, who caused a shock in the first quarter. The point guard had to leave the field briefly due to a knee injury, but he returned.
Victor Wembanyama is self-critical
For the Spurs, Wembanyama only had an average game with 26 points and twelve rebounds with a poor shooting rate. “I was just bad tonight – it couldn’t be more complicated than that.”said Wembanyama. But nervousness didn’t play a role for the 22-year-old. “It definitely felt special, no question about it, but it was far from a factor that could be used as an excuse”says Wembanyama: “It had no impact on our performance.”
Hukporti, who was only the sixth German overall in the final Larry O’Brien Trophy plays, was not used for New York. The big man from Stralsund could become the third German NBA champion after Dirk Nowitzki (2011) and Isaiah Hartenstein (2025).
The Knicks’ first sign
New York made a small statement in its first final appearance since 1999 and ultimately clinched its twelfth (!) playoff victory in a row. In the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland Cavaliers With national team captain Dennis Schröder, the team from the “Big Apple” landed a “sweep” (4-0) as they did against them in the previous round Philadelphia 76ers.
San Antonio, which is in the NBA finals for the first time since winning the title in 2014, has to fight against a 0-2 defeat in its next home game on Friday (2:30 a.m. CEST/Prime Video). In 1999, New York’s opponent was also San Antonio – back then, the Texans had the upper hand and celebrated their first of five titles to date.