Chris Mannix: The Knicks Keep Finding a Way, and a Championship Is Within Reach

The setup was perfect. Pick-and-pop, 20 feet away and the closest defender, Mitchell Robinson, not close enough to matter. Victor Wembanyama had probably envisioned this moment countless times. NBA Finals, ball in his hands, clock winding down, game on the line. Wembanyama rose up, extending the ball well above his 7'4" frame, released … and missed.

"Caught it with some space," said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. "Took a good shot."

Said Wembanyama, "I liked the shot … I just need to score. That's the whole point."

Whew. What a game. Down 1–0, San Antonio came out with energy. De'Aaron Fox was cooking. Julian Champagnie was, too. The Spurs gave Jalen Brunson freedom to operate in Game 1. In Game 2, they made him work the length of the floor. San Antonio had 18 points in the paint in the first quarter, jumping out to a nine-point lead.

But the Knicks came back. They always come back. Karl-Anthony Towns started going through the gears in the second quarter. Mikal Bridges got hot from three. OG Anunoby was getting it done on both ends of the floor. New York led by four at halftime. The lead swelled to nine at the end of the third. Fat Joe was smiling. Ben Stiller was celebrating. Timothée Chalamet was popping out of his hoodie.

And then … the Spurs rallied. It was a 14-point game with six minutes left when San Antonio started to chip away. A couple of Dylan Harper free throws. A Fox three. A Wembanyama layup. Suddenly, the Knicks went cold. Towns went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Bridges was 0 of 4. Brunson, the hero of Game 1, mustered just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. It was a tie game with 11.8 seconds left after Wembanyama collected a rebound and headed up the floor with a chance to win it.

From there, catastrophe. Wembanyama flipped the ball ahead to Stephon Castle. Only Castle wasn't looking. The ball bounced off Castle's back, into the hands of Brunson, who drew a foul in a collision with Wembanyama. "That's the most frustrating thing, to throw it away after putting in all this work," said Wembanyama. "It's like body reacts quicker than mind." Brunson made one free throw, setting up the final possession. Fox rubbed off the Wembanyama screen, tossed it back to the All-NBA center only to see the jumper rim out.

"He's made that shot a thousand times," said Castle. "I'll take that shot every day."

Said Fox, "He makes that shot nine times out of 10. I think we had a great possession."

It was heartbreak for the Spurs. For the Knicks, it's no longer surprising. Friday's win was New York's 13th-13th!-in a row. It won the last three against Atlanta, swept the 76ers and Cavs and have bulldozed its way to two road wins against the best the Western Conference has to offer. "Mentally tough" was how Bridges described the Knicks. "Resilient," said Landry Shamet.

There's a destiny vibe to these Knicks. New York leads 2–0 in the Finals, and the Knicks would argue they have not played well in either of them. Brunson needed 25 shots to get his 20 points on Friday. He was 2 of 8 from three-point range. But others were there to pick him up. Towns finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, attacking the paint relentlessly. Bridges-remember him-had 20 on 8-of-13 shooting.

The Knicks easily could have folded and headed back to New York with a split.

Instead, they battled back and return to Madison Square Garden with a chance to sweep.

"It's an amazing feeling as a coach to know how mentally tough your team is no matter what the situation is in front of them," said Knicks coach Mike Brown. "To see them continue to fight and fight and fight and fight, no matter what the score is, no matter how much time is on the clock, it's just a fantastic feeling. The NBA is tough. You don't experience what I'm experiencing with this group a ton, and it is a freaking joy to be around."

It's hard to calculate the value of experience. The Spurs didn't need it to advance to the Finals. The Knicks are benefiting from it now. There is a different level of connectivity to this Knicks team. Of trust. Consider: Late in the third quarter, the Knicks led by four. Towns was on the bench with foul trouble. Brunson needed rest. It didn't matter. Bridges scored a bucket. Then Deuce McBride. Then Shamet. With its two top scorers on the bench, New York turned a four-point lead into nine.

"That's just who they are," said Brunson. "That's who my teammates are. Night in and night out, they come and bring it. There's always going to be things said, regardless of the situation, but I have the utmost trust and faith in them just because of the work ethic and the things that we're able to do every day."

Towns included. Brunson has gotten the headlines in this series. Towns has been doing the work. He spaces the floor when Wembanyama is on him. He punishes the Spurs when they go small in the paint. He attacks the rim relentlessly and chases every rebound. Said Brunson, "I think he's been pretty phenomenal on both sides of the ball."

Towns has been open about the emotions of the Finals. During Game 1, he said he felt the presence of his mother, Jacqueline, who died in 2020. "I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be coming from the woman above," Towns told ESPN after the game. Before the Spurs' final possession, Towns said a quiet prayer to her. "I take it as a sign my mom was there with me," said Towns. "I appreciate her so much."

The Knicks are downplaying any advantage, but here are the facts: No team in Finals history has come back to win the title after losing the first two games at home. Madison Square Garden will be pulsating on Monday, with tens of thousands of rabid fans in the building and perhaps hundreds of thousands more in the streets surrounding it. It has been 53 years since New York celebrated an NBA championship, and this one is close enough for every blue-clad fan to taste it.

"Mindset has to be 0–0 again," said Brunson. "It's just how it has to be."

Indeed, up 2–0, down 0–2, the Knicks are hellbent on keeping the focus on continuing to improve. "I know I sound like a broken record," said Brunson. "But it's really important." They have the Spurs on the ropes now, but they know it will take more than one punch to knock them out. "At this stage of the season, things aren't going to be pretty," said Brunson. "It's going to be ugly. It's going to be grinded out. It's simple as that." Indeed. It will take two more great games to beat San Antonio. Two more to make history.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chris Mannix: The Knicks Keep Finding a Way, and a Championship Is Within Reach.

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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 2:15 AM.