{"id":712963,"date":"2026-06-03T16:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712963\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:45:10","slug":"nba-finals-2026-knicks-vs-spurs-predictions-who-wins-here-are-our-championship-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712963\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Finals 2026 Knicks vs. Spurs predictions: Who wins? Here are our championship picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knicks<\/a> vs. Spurs<\/a>. 2026 NBA F<\/a>inals<\/a>. It\u2019s finally here, and it could be epic.<\/p>\n

New York, led by 6-foot-2 star guard Jalen Brunson<\/a>, is hoping to hang its first championship banner since 1973, while San Antonio<\/a>, led by 7-4 generational superstar Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, is seeking to start the NBA\u2019s next dynasty.<\/p>\n

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Who has the most at stake in the Finals? Who are the biggest X-factors? And who will ultimately win it all? Our writers weigh in on the must-see matchup.<\/p>\n

Knicks or Spurs: More impressive run to the Finals?<\/p>\n

Kelly Iko: Spurs. The Knicks have throttled their unfortunate Eastern Conference foes en route to June, but I\u2019m not sure there are any analytics that can quantify the mental fortitude, attention to detail and sheer will to knock off the defending champs, beating them twice at home and withstanding a machine that has left 29 other teams tucked in the fetal position. That the Spurs are this young and have accelerated their timeline this quickly is more impressive.<\/p>\n

Dan Devine: Spurs. As hard as it is to go against the team that literally put up the highest point differential of any 11-game stretch in NBA history to get here, I\u2019ll go with San Antonio. As a legendary poet once said, to be the man, you\u2019ve got to beat the man<\/a>, and the Spurs went into Oklahoma City<\/a> and won twice \u2014 in Game 1 and Game 7 \u2014 to knock off the Thunder and punctuate their season-long dominance over the defending NBA champions. I\u2019m not sure it gets more impressive than that.<\/p>\n

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Tom Haberstroh: Knicks. The greatest 11-game run in NBA history<\/a> I think qualifies as prettay \u2026prettay \u2026 prettay good<\/a>. The Spurs beating the defending champs is mighty impressive, but the Thunder were without Jalen Williams<\/a> and Ajay Mitchell<\/a> for much of that series. The way the Knicks have completely done a 180 mid-playoffs is nothing short of magical.<\/p>\n

Ben Rohrbach: Spurs. As impressive as New York\u2019s run through the Eastern Conference finals was \u2014 11 straight wins and all \u2014 it came against the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks<\/a>, seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> and fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>. Meanwhile, San Antonio marched through Anthony Edwards<\/a>\u2019 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>\u2019s defending champion Thunder to get here. The Knicks have yet to face a team as good as either opponent.<\/p>\n

Steve Jones: Knicks. The Spurs deserve a ton of credit for coming from down 3-2 against the defending champs and winning Game 7 in OKC\u2019s building. They also got last year\u2019s other Western Conference finalist, Minnesota, out of there. That being said, the Knicks are one of five teams that have won 11 straight games in a single postseason. They are the only team in NBA history with three series-clinching wins by 30 or more points. And they have solved problems quickly and delivered more as series have wore on \u2014 that\u2019s the most impressive part.<\/p>\n

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Play 2026 Soccer Pick ‘Em with FOX One and make your picks for the world’s biggest soccer tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

Who has the most at stake in these Finals?<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Victor Wembanyama. The list of superstars to lead his team to a championship at the age of 22<\/a> includes only Bill Russell and Tim Duncan<\/a>. The list of players to lead a team to a title in his first three seasons is also a short one<\/a>, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In other words, mostly GOATs will have done what Wembanyama could do with a championship at such a young age. He will be well ahead of schedule on Michael Jordan and LeBron James<\/a>, who did not win their first titles until they were 28 and 27 years old, respectively. If Wemby were to lose, however, he will forever have something on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that Jordan never did \u2014 a Finals loss. These are the nits we may have to pick when it is all said and done with Wemby. That we have arrived at this place so soon into his career is a testament to Wembanyama\u2019s ceaseless ceiling.<\/p>\n

Devine: Jalen Brunson. I don\u2019t feel like this series is necessarily a referendum on any individual player \u2014 the kind of binary \u201chero or fraud???\u201d legacy crucible that makes or breaks the way we talk about them forever. But the list of small point guards to be the best player on a championship team is even smaller than those point guards. If he can find a way to lead the Knicks to their first title in 53 years, being the best performer on the floor in the biggest moment the franchise has seen in decades, he goes from \u201cmulti-time All-Star\/All-NBA performer\u201d to \u201clikely Hall of Famer.\u201d That\u2019s a pretty big leap; all Brunson\u2019s got to do to make it is hurdle the biggest obstacle in the sport.<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/p>\n

Will Victor Wembanyama rise above them all? (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: Jalen Brunson. He\u2019s on his way to becoming the greatest Knick of all time<\/a> if things break right. But I gotta say, for an NBA Finals that feels absolutely massive, it doesn\u2019t carry the same downside risk as we\u2019ve seen in the past. Brunson turns 30 this summer, so he qualifies as the elder statesmen in this series of guppies.<\/p>\n

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Jones: The Knicks, as a unit. I\u2019m not sure there is one individual whose \u201clegacy is on the line\u201d as we\u2019ve seen in Finals past. But the Knicks are making their first trip to the Finals in 27 years, and a championship would be the team\u2019s first since 1973. There are no guarantees in this league (eight different champions in the past eight years), but the Spurs do have an element of youth on their side. And with the fact that Wembanyama can (and will) get even better, you could see the Spurs making it back here.\u00a0If I had to pick a person with the most to gain it\u2019s Wembanyama (would be a generational run) or\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> (would stamp his career and end a whole lot of chatter).<\/p>\n

Iko: Is it fair to say Mike Brown?\u00a0The driving force behind Brown\u2019s hire was a need to push this group a bit farther than Tom Thibodeau could, diversify the Knicks\u2019 offensive profile and enhance their depth. So far, he\u2019s done all three, while also boasting championship experience. But because of the pressure that comes with playing or coaching in New York \u2014 in accordance with ownership\u2019s expectations \u2014 Brown stumbling at the finish line would be an unfortunate end to a brilliant season, once again giving way to offseason questions.<\/p>\n

Knicks-Spurs Finals preview: Series keys, schedule and more<\/a><\/p>\n

Name an X-factor in this series<\/p>\n

Jones: Josh Hart<\/a>. The Knicks will need his defense and ability to defend multiple positions because the Spurs guards will attack. They will also need him to handle the moments when the Spurs deploy Victor Wembanyama to guard him. The shot making (or taking) may draw the attention, but keep an eye on what Hart does off-ball. His ability to keep things flowing, working to get to dribble handoffs or setting off-ball screens could get the Knicks some openings. I will note a (healthier) De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> could flip all the math we are calculating in the build-up.<\/p>\n

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Devine: Mitchell Robinson<\/a>\u2019s broken and surgically repaired right pinky<\/a>. If he\u2019s more or less good to go, able to grab offensive rebounds, finish above the rim and be an active shot-blocker\/disruptor, he could be a massive weapon for Mike Brown to deploy against Wembanyama. If he\u2019s limited, unavailable or ineffective, New York\u2019s chances of stifling the Spurs drop significantly.<\/p>\n

Iko: Julian Champagnie<\/a>\u2019s and Devin Vassell<\/a>\u2019s joint spacing. Similar to the Western Conference finals, I expect the Knicks to look to force turnovers in the middle of the floor, ceding open 3s and making a Spurs team yet to get a good shooting performance from both Champagnie and Vassell to punish them. Most of the attention will be focused on Wembanyama, anyway, and Stephon Castle<\/a>, Dylan Harper<\/a> and De\u2019Aaron Fox\u2019s drive-and-kick ability remains top-notch. San Antonio just needs to continue to knock down shots.<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: Julian Champagnie. He had three points in the NBA Cup loss and 36 points in the Spurs win a couple weeks later. That\u2019s what we call an X-factor. Karl-Anthony Towns may be \u201chid\u201d on Champagnie so the Knicks center doesn\u2019t get in foul trouble. Whoever can make hay with that matchup should swing the series.<\/p>\n

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Rohrbach: Dylan Harper. Since Magic Johnson\u2019s 42-15-7 in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals \u2014 the pinnacle moment in NBA playoff history for rookies \u2014 only Sam Cassell in 1994 and Manu Ginobili<\/a> in 2003 have played more than 400 postseason minutes for a champion in his freshman season. And Harper doesn\u2019t just play. He\u2019s been an integral part of what the Spurs do and will be as both a defender against Brunson and as a scorer off the bench. Harper has a chance to be a special talent, and what better place to launch a Hall of Fame career than the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

After Game 1, everyone’s going to be talking about _______<\/p>\n

Devine: The end of the Knicks\u2019 postseason winning streak, and whether anyone anywhere has any answers for Wembanyama.<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: The Knicks, for better or worse. The NBA\u2019s biggest media market hasn\u2019t won a title since 1973, hasn\u2019t reached a Finals since 1999, and that\u2019s the biggest story going in all of sports \u2014 with the acknowledgement that a potential Wembanyama coronation is an awfully big story. If the Knicks are in a 1-0 hole, trying to figure out the impossible puzzle that is Wembanyama, or if they\u2019re leading 1-0 \u2014 three wins from glory \u2014 either way the Knicks will lead the conversation.<\/p>\n

Jones: Whatever Victor Wembanyama did in his Finals debut. At each step of this run he\u2019s showcased a new layer to his game. The defense continues to speak for itself, but how will he look to put his stamp on this series from the beginning? What will the offensive aggression look like on the grandest stage of them all? His passion and energy in front of that world will likely be the discussion.<\/p>\n

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Iko: Stephon Castle\u2019s matchup with Jalen Brunson, and whether the guard who finished a few votes shy of an All-Defensive team was able to successfully contain him like he did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: How exhausted Wembanyama was. Coming off a grueling seven-game marathon, Wembanyama\u2019s discipline and stamina will be tested. I\u2019m reminded of the Game 1 block party against Rudy Gobert<\/a> and how the Spurs Frenchman burned out quickly in the loss to Minnesota. The Knicks will do everything in their power to try to wear him down and it might just work.<\/p>\n

What’s your Finals prediction, and who’s the Finals MVP?<\/p>\n

Haberstroh: Spurs in 5. Wemby, Finals MVP. I\u2019ve backed them all season long, and there\u2019s no turning back now. The piranhas of the Spurs backcourt should give Brunson more fits than he\u2019s had all postseason, and that\u2019ll free up Wembanyama to wreak havoc in the paint. Wemby stands to be the youngest Finals MVP since Magic in 1980.<\/p>\n

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Iko: Spurs in 6. Wemby, Finals MVP. I was in the locker room following a memorable Game 7 win on the road, and those guys are extremely confident going up against this Knicks team. As Mitch Johnson said, sometimes the lack of experience gets overblown and the inverse is leaned on way too heavily. San Antonio is young, hungry, talented and capable of more. Should be a fantastic series.<\/p>\n

Devine: Knicks in 6. Jalen Brunson, Finals MVP. I finished my big Finals preview<\/a> with that prediction, and I\u2019ll stick with that here. (Consistency. Ethics.) After being named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Cup and Eastern Conference finals, Brunson adds a third trophy to his case, and he never has to pay for anything in New York again. I didn\u2019t say \u201cnever pay for a drink again.\u201d I said never pay for anything.<\/p>\n

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Jones: Knicks in 6. Jalen Brunson, Finals MVP. There is a chance the Spurs (once again) prove me wrong by containing Brunson and taking the Knicks\u2019 movement off the table with Wembanyama at the center of it. But it feels like the Knicks have the defensive personnel to slow the Spurs\u2019 guards down. They have won games in different ways, had Brunson and KAT hold up on both ends and are fully bought in. If they are going to get it done, it will be in the Garden.<\/p>\n

Rohrbach: Spurs in 7. Victor Wembanyama, Finals MVP. A new era is upon us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Knicks vs. Spurs. 2026 NBA Finals. It\u2019s finally here, and it could be epic. New York, led by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[346373,12993,20453,7218,64,63,17603,17933,12835,62608,12842,20455,12831,87780,35183,20449,12845,7896,318117,5665,16104,590,2656,5673,9688,60872,12837,12841,85,24942,12848,93272,28021,19014,17934,12838],"class_list":["post-712963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-1980-nba-finals","tag-ajay-mitchell","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-dan-devine","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-devin-vassell","tag-dylan-harper","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jalen-williams","tag-josh-hart","tag-julian-champagnie","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-knicks","tag-lebron-james","tag-manu-ginobili","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-san-antonio","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-spurs","tag-stephon-castle","tag-steve-jones","tag-the-spurs","tag-tim-duncan","tag-tom-haberstroh","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}