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Karl-Anthony Towns (left) leads the Finals MVP Ladder chase, but Victor Wembanyama is in the thick of the chase, too.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a> The NBA Finals<\/a> are now 2-1 in favor of the New York Knicks, giving the impression that the series on paper is closer than it is in perception. And the same can be said about the Finals MVP Ladder.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still Karl-Anthony Towns on top. But is the race for the top individual award close?<\/p>\n Much will depend on the next game. For now, there\u2019s no clear-cut dominant player, or even a slam-dunk runner-up for that matter. A handful of candidates have had moments and also some less-than-stellar stretches.<\/p>\n This series begs for a hero, and there is no shortage of candidates. That\u2019s the good news: the floor is open for the eventual Finals MVP, which should serve as motivation for him and his team.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Towns, for now, until someone comes along with a strong enough performance to assume the Ladder\u2019s top rung. He may be in control of the Ladder only as long as the Knicks are in control of the series, because another Spurs win can change the conversation.<\/p>\n The stat to know: When 21-year-old Stephon Castle dropped 23 points, five rebounds and five assists Monday for the Spurs, it was a benchmark of sorts<\/a>. Only Magic Johnson and Tony Parker were younger when they went 20-5-5 previously in an NBA Finals game.<\/p>\n What they\u2019re saying: \u201cI\u2019m sure Victor has numerous sources of motivation. I don\u2019t think any of us are surprised or expect anything different than a strong performance and him being on his front foot in terms of being in attack mode.\u201d \u2014 Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on Victor Wembanyama\u2019s bounce-back Game 3.<\/p>\n 1. Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Finals stats:<\/a> 16.7 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 apg<\/p>\n His case: Towns is here at No. 1 because he has been impactful twice in three games. That\u2019s a better ratio than anyone else. The big man set the pace in Game 1 and followed up strongly in the next outing. He\u2019s forcing the Spurs to make significant adjustments defensively. As in, do we assign a smaller player to him or Wembanyama? Actually, they\u2019re shuffling both types of defenders on Towns and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n Towns wasn\u2019t as involved in Game 3, and perhaps a counter strategy by the Knicks is to get him more shots in Wednesday\u2019s Game 4 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC<\/a>). There\u2019s always a sensitive balance between Towns and Jalen Brunson and which player should assume the bulk of the shots. The defense being applied against them will usually dictate which player gets that honor.<\/p>\n 2. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Finals stats:<\/a> 29 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.3 bpg<\/p>\n His case: Wembanyama delivered a step-up performance<\/a> at the most absolutely critical time, and in the face of a hostile environment, with his effort on Monday in Game 3. There aren\u2019t many players who can do so at both ends of the floor. Not only did Wembanyama put the Spurs back in the series, but he no doubt sent the Knicks scrambling to figure out a better way against him in Game 4.<\/p>\n Wembanyama\u2019s shooting was spotty for the first six quarters of this series. Otherwise, he has settled into a comfort zone. Is he finally getting his groove? The next outing will tell. Remember, this is the first taste of the championship stage for the 22-year-old, who has so much weighing on his shoulders. With a few exceptions, he has handled these moments well.<\/p>\n 3. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Finals stats:<\/a> 27.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.3 apg<\/p>\n His case: He\u2019s the leading scorer in the series for the Knicks and mostly trouble for the Spurs whenever he\u2019s handling the ball and trying to make something happen. That\u2019s why San Antonio\u2019s defense stays on high alert in these situations. The Spurs know they can\u2019t allow Brunson to create space between the defender and flourish in the flow. He\u2019s too dangerous there, and the Knicks\u2019 offense is largely reliant on his savvy and skills. Also, he has made the two biggest shots in the Knicks\u2019 two wins.<\/p>\n That said, his last outing was the first time shooting at least 40% in a game this series. Brunson has had stretches where his shot doesn\u2019t fall enough. He\u2019ll need to be more accurate in the first three quarters as he usually is in the fourth quarter to make a climb on the ladder.<\/p>\n 4. OG Anunoby, New York Knicks<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Finals stats:<\/a> 20.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.3 apg<\/p>\n His case: Time and time again, Anunoby manages to hit jumpers regardless of the defense he faces. At least it seems that way in these Finals. He doesn\u2019t get as many shot attempts as Towns and Brunson, though, and maybe that should change, because Anunoby is shooting 54.3% in the series and has been a problem for the Spurs\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also expected to challenge Wembanyama at times defensively, which seems like a tall order. But Anunoby is among the league\u2019s top defenders. Essentially, he\u2019s being asked to do chores at both ends and he can handle that load, even if it gets bigger as this series progresses.<\/p>\n 5. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Finals stats:<\/a> 18 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4 apg<\/p>\n His case: He finally came alive offensively, and right when the Spurs needed him most, in Game 3 (when Wembanyama craved a co-star). Castle delivered and largely because of that, the series has a one-game differential. Game 3 was easily his finest of this series because not only was he scoring (23 points on 8-14 shooting) while also delivering the ball on time (five assists) when needed.<\/p>\n Castle has perhaps the toughest chore of anyone in this series. He\u2019s the first line of defense on Brunson, and he\u2019s also needed to score and complement Wembanyama. So far, so decent, and remember, he\u2019s just 21 years old. Placed in that context, Castle\u2019s effort is solid. If he keeps dropping games of 20-plus scoring and holding Brunson to below-efficient performances, his place on the ladder will soar.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Karl-Anthony Towns (left) leads the Finals MVP Ladder chase, but Victor Wembanyama is in the thick of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,351829,590,85],"class_list":["post-726357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-finals-mvp-ladder","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726357","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=726357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022\u00a0Complete coverage:\u00a02026 NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n