Editor’s Note: Click here for full analysis and takeaways from Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The New York Knicks are headed home with a decisive lead in the 2026 NBA Finals after beating the San Antonio Spurs 105-104 in Game 2 Friday, June 5.
New York needed to overcome a late rally by San Antonio, which fought back from a 14-point deficit. As a result, the Knicks extended their postseason winning streak to a franchise record 13 consecutive games.
Karl-Anthony Towns had another strong game for New York, leading the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Towns had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Knicks’ Game 1 win.
Victor Wembanyama missed an opportunity at a potential game-winner for San Antonio as time expired, and his costly turnover led to Jalen Brunson’s game-winning free throw.
Wembanyama said. “I messed up,” Wembanyama said. “We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game; this game was ours. But at this point, it’s done.
“Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and fuel us into the next game? Absolutely.”
The 2-0 lead puts the Knicks firmly in the driver’s seat and spells big trouble for the Spurs. Only five teams in league history have ever recovered from a 2-0 series deficit in the NBA Finals.
USA TODAY had live coverage of Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Scroll below for highights and a recap:
Fans were offered the chance to attend watch parties outside of Madison Square Garden and at SummerStage in Central Park in New York on Friday night.
Watch highlights from the Knicks’ victory over the Spurs on Friday, June 5:
A bad pass from Victor Wembanyama turned into the game-winning point for the New York Knicks as the San Antonio Spurs dropped Game 2 of the NBA Finals 105-104 on Friday, June 5.
With 13.6 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 104, Wembanyama nabbed a defensive rebound after Jalen Brunson missed a jump shot. The Defensive Player of the Year took a few dribbles and then tossed the ball toward point guard Stephon Castle, who wasn’t looking. Brunson then swooped in and stole the rock before colliding with Wembanyama and falling out of bounds.
Wembanyama was called for a foul on the play and he scrunched is face in frustration.
Brunson made just one of his two free throw attempts to give the Knicks a 105-104 lead with 7.5 seconds left in regulation. Timeout is called. Wembanyama had a clean look for a potential game-winner but missed the shot on the final possession as time expired.
The Spurs and Knicks are tied at 104 with 39 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Victor Wembanyama made a layup off an assist from Dylan Harper to give the Spurs the 103-102 lead with 57.3 seconds left in the quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns was called for his fifth foul. Wemby made the free throw attempt. Knicks star Jalen Brunson made a 13-foot fade-away jumper to even the score at 104.
OG Anunoby made three free throws for the Knicks after a successful coach’s challenge. Julian Champagnie was called for the shooting foul.
The Spurs have some momentum after Dylan Harper scores under the basket to tie the game with the Knicks at 97 with 2:59 left in regulation.
San Antonio went on a 14-0 scoring run over the last 3:13.
The Knicks led by as many as 14 points in the quarter.
The Knicks call a timeout after De’Aaron Fox made a 25-foot 3-pointer. Knicks still lead 97-88 with 5:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Stephon Castle was seen hobbling after he appeared to roll his ankle after a missed shot attempt. The Spurs called a timeout and Castle was subbed out of the game for De’Aaron Fox with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Things were getting chippy between the two sides. De’Aaron Fox was seen getting in Jalen Brunson’s face. Rick Brunson was seen getting upset and briefly held back by Knicks coach Mike Brown.
The Spurs appear to have picked up the pace in the final frame, cutting the Knicks’ lead down to five.
Dylan Harper made a shot under the basket to make it a five-point game with the New York lead San Antonio 87-82 with 9:11 left in regulation.
The Spurs haven’t found an answer for the Knicks in the third quarter. San Antonio is in jeopardy of falling behind 2-0 in the series.
Karl-Anthony Towns leads the Knicks with 21 points and nine rebounds through three quarters of play.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes of play. He had just seven points at halftime.
“We’ve got to fight,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson told ESPN after the third quarter. “We are too passive.”
Karl-Anthony Towns acquired his fourth foul in what has been a physical third quarter between the Knicks and Spurs.
Towns was called for an offensive foul with 6:01 left in the quarter, turning the ball over and, more importantly, changing the way in which the big man could be used for New York to finish out the game on the road with the intentions of avoiding further foul trouble. Josh Hart also has four fouls.
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks have similarly started the third quarter as they closed out the first half.
Towns helped start an 11-5 scoring run for the Knicks with a bucket. He was fouled on the shot attempted but did miss the free throw attempt.
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks poured it on in the second quarter to overtake the Spurs and take a four-point halftime lead. The Spurs managed to get out in front, taking a 34-25 lead after the first quarter, but New York turned things around in the second, limiting Victor Wembanyama and outscoring San Antonio 31-18 to go into the locker room with a lead in the pivotal Game 2.
Towns has nearly matched his Game 1 point total (18) with 17 points in the first half of Game 2 for the New York. He’s made 6 of his 8 shots from the field and was 3 of 5 from the 3-point line. Jalen Brunson has produced 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Knicks. He’s shot 3 of 11 from the field.
De’Aaron Fox led the Spurs’ efforts with a team-high 12 points in 16 minutes of play. Victor Wembanyama has seven points, five rebounds and two blocks.
The Knicks have taken their first lead of the game against the Spurs at 49-48 with 3:39 left in the first half. Landry Shamet scored for the Knicks off an assist from Mikal Bridges.
Devin Vassell put the Spurs back in front quickly, with a 25-foot three-pointer, off an assist from Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio leads New York 51-49 with 3:15 left in the second quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns becomes the first player to reach double-digit points tonight in Game 2. He has 14 points after shooting 5 for 6 from the field. He’s also 2 for 3 from the 3-point line and 2 for 2 from the free throw line. Towns is trending toward a double-double with five rebounds.
Mike Brown spoke with ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the conclusion of the first quarter and spoke about New York’s start.
“We got to take care of the basketball,” Brown said. “The pace has been pretty good, but we have to play faster.”
De’Aaron Fox led the Spurs with nine points in nine minutes of play in the first quarter. He also had 3 assists and two rebounds. Victor Wembanyama was limited to just five points, making just 2-for-3 shots from the field. Jalen Brunson had eight early points in the quarter on just 2 of 8 shooting.
The Spurs lead the Knicks 17-13 with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Jalen Brunson has scored eight of the Knicks’ first 13 points in the first quarter. OG Anunoby has scored the other five points for the Knicks.
Julian Champagnie has led the way for the Spurs, scoring eight points. He went 2 for 2 from the field and the three-point line. He also went 2 for 2 from the free-throw line.
Devin Vassell made the first points of Game 2 with a 3-pointer off an assist from Stephon Castle. The Spurs have taken a 10-5 lead early in the quarter, but the Knicks have managed to keep things close early. The Spurs lead the Knicks 13-10 with 7:59 left in the opening quarter.
New York Knicks
San Antonio Spurs
Game 2 is of the utmost importance for both teams. For the Knicks, a 2-0 series advantage would be massive considering only five teams in NBA history have ever won the Finals after losing both Games 1 and 2. Here are the teams that came back from 0-2 deficits:
The Knicks just winning Game 1 is also a huge advantage. Across history, teams that win Game 1 go on to win the title 77.8% of the time.
USA TODAY’s NBA experts seems pretty certain that the San Antonio Spurs will even the series against the New York Knicks Friday night. Here are predictions from the staff:
Odds via BetMGM as of 5:55 p.m. ET
After taking Game 1 of the series, the Knicks have leap-frogged the Spurs as favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
New York Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson, who suffered a broken right pinky finger early last week, remains lone player to appear on the injury report for both the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. But Robinson has been upgraded to probable for Game 2 tonight, giving New York another big body to put on Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
USA TODAY Sports is tracking every celebrity and former athlete that attends Game 2 of the NBA Finals as Jalen Brunson and the Knicks battle for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in San Antonio. That includes Timothée Chalamet, who documented how he iced his knees after his beloved Knicks won Game 1.
They call him “Captain Clutch” for a reason.
After Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson erupted in the fourth quarter Wednesday, June 3, to propel New York to steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals over the San Antonio Spurs, his reputation as one of the premier clutch players of this generation is only growing, Lorenzo Reyes writes.
The one thing missing from his résumé in the clutch, however, is an NBA title. And with the Knicks now just three wins away from that, presuming more close games are coming, a championship would instantly catapult Brunson to the top of the list of his contemporaries. Whether it’s alongside two-time consecutive Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or in line with aging stars like Stephen Curry or even compared to some of the game’s icons like Michael Jordan, Brunson, 29, would reach a new level if the Knicks win their first title in 53 years.
▶ Click here to read Lorenzo Reyes’ full column on Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson.
Julian Champagnie is a fascinating figure in the 2026 NBA Finals because he’s the only player in the series who grew up in New York and then went to college in New York — and he happens to now play for the San Antonio Spurs.
So the fourth-year pro isn’t just emerging as a valuable sharpshooter who was overlooked initially after going undrafted and being waived by the Philadelphia 76ers to begin his NBA career. He also might be a villain in his hometown if the Spurs manage to come back and win an NBA championship over the Knicks.
“I have a lot of friends who are New York fans and I would love to spoil their plans,” Champagnie told reporters before the NBA Finals began. — Mark Giannotto
▶ Click here to read more about the San Antonio Spurs forward.
At 7-foot-4, Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs poses unexpectedly big problems. Because it’s not just that Wembanyama is tall. It’s what he can do at his height and with his impossibly long 96-inch wingspan. Block shots, of course. But also dribble and shoot 3s. LeBron James referred to Wembanyama as an “Alien’’ when Wembanyama was still a French phenom who the Spurs had yet to select with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. — Josh Peter
Here’s how he stacks up with the tallest players in NBA history:
The women are expected to arrive for Game 2 of the NBA Finals as they arrived for Game 1, and for many games before that. They’ll be wearing their traditional nun’s habits and San Antonio Spurs jerseys. They’ll also be rooting (and praying) for the home team when the Spurs take on the New York Knicks at the Frost Bank Center on Friday, June 5.
It makes the nuns almost as easy to spot as Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ 7-foot-4 phenom. And like Wemby and the rest of the Spurs, the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco in San Antonio have become celebrities in their own right. The Sisters adore the Spurs, and the affection appears to be mutual. — Josh Peter
▶ Click here to read more about the San Antonio Spurs’ most unlikely superfans.
Elmo tried to keep the peace ahead of the 2026 NBA Finals, but New York fans were not having it. After the “Sesame Street” star posted on X that he hoped the Knicks and Spurs would “have fun” before Game 1, fans flooded the replies demanding he pick a side – with many in New York arguing the furry red Muppet should back the hometown team. Multiple people pointed out how “Sesame Street” is set in the Big Apple:
“Traitor to New York,” one reaction stated.
“This isn’t the time for sportsmanship, Elmo,” one person wrote. “These streets ain’t sesame.”
The fans didn’t let up: “I’m sorry you getting cursed out for this, Elmo but you’re from … NY rep your city!!!”
Elmo eventually responded to the discourse and waved the white flag in a follow-up post, “KNICKS that last message! Elmo didn’t mean to SPUR you on!” — Taylor Ardrey
David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Jalen Brunson’s father Rick Brunson were all part of the scene the last time the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs played for an NBA championship back in 1999.
Rick Brunson is a Knicks assistant coach, who played for eight teams in nine NBA seasons as a point guard from 1997-2006. Unlike his All-Star son Jalen, the elder Brunson was not a powerhouse scorer, he averaged 3.2 points and 2.6 assists in 337 NBA games. But he has had a long and prosperous career as an NBA assistant. Click here to read more about Rick Brunson. — Scooby Axson
The Spurs and Knicks split their regular season series 1-1 this year. The Spurs won the first game between the two clubs, a 134-132 squeaker on Dec. 31, 2025, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. However, when the Knicks hosted on March 1 at Madison Square Garden, New York rolled past San Antonio, defeating the Spurs 114-89.
New York won Game 1 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, 105-95, to steal home-court advantage away from the Spurs in the series.
The New York Knicks might have one of the biggest fanbases in basketball, but their postseason success has been lacking. Since the turn of the 21st century, the Knicks have reached the postseason on just 10 occasions, advancing past the second round three times including this year.
The Knicks have not played in an NBA Finals since 1999 and have not won a championship since 1973.
That said, the tide has turned recently. New York reached the Eastern Conference finals one year ago, and they have stormed through the NBA playoffs this year, winning 12 consecutive games.
The Spurs are one of the most storied franchises in NBA history and were particularly dominant for a 15-yeat stretch, winning five titles between 1999 and 2014.
The team is also tied for the most consecutive postseason appearances, making the playoffs 22 consecutive years between 1998 and 2019.
The San Antonio Spurs host the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals Friday, June 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local) at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
ABC is broadcasting the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. The network will also air a pre-game show prior to Game 2 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on Friday, June 5.
Fans can stream Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs on Fubo or with an ESPN Unlimited subscription.
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
Gambling involves risk. Please only gamble with funds that you can comfortably afford to lose. While we do our utmost to offer good advice and information we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of gambling. We do our best to make sure all the information that we provide on this site is correct. However, from time to time mistakes will be made and we will not be held liable. Please check any stats or information if you are unsure how accurate they are. No guarantees are made with regards to results or financial gain. All forms of betting carry financial risk and it is up to the individual to make bets with or without the assistance of information provided on this site and we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of following the betting tips provided on this site. Past performances do not guarantee success in the future and betting odds fluctuate from one minute to the next. The material contained on this site is intended to inform, entertain and educate the reader and in no way represents an inducement to gamble legally or illegally or any sort of professional advice.
Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside. It is your sole responsibility to act in accordance with your local laws.
Leave a Reply