a video<\/a> on social media that he has \u201ccaught Knicks fever.\u201d<\/p>\nHe mentioned Knicks players Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart, who all attended Villanova University, \u201cthe alma mater of our Holy Father, who reminds us that he praises the Lord for the gift of sport, for those who glorify God through the exercise of their bodies, for the friendship born on the field, and for the joy of playing as a team.”<\/p>\n
Archbishop Hicks said he is \u201clooking forward to this friendly wager with my friend, Archbishop Gustavo,\u201d confirming he will send bagels if the Knicks lose, and said he looks \u201cforward to whatever he\u2019s going to \u2026 send my way from San Antonio.”<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lit my candles, I\u2019ve said my prayers \u2026 Go Knicks!\u201d New York\u2019s archbishop concluded.<\/p>\n
Knicks Up 2-0<\/p>\n
The Spurs and Knicks are the last two teams standing in the 2026 NBA season. The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-3 in the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n
They are now in a best-of-seven series for the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy, with the Knicks currently leading 2-0 after winning both Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Entering Game 3 of the Finals on Monday night, the Knicks have won 13 consecutive playoff games \u2014 the second-longest single-postseason winning streak ever, trailing only the 15-game run by the Golden State Warriors in 2017.<\/p>\n
After sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers and Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference playoffs and winning the first two games of the Finals in San Antonio, New York has outscored opponents by 273 points, the best 13-game margin in playoff history.<\/p>\n
It has been 53 years since the Knicks’ last championship, the longest drought for any NBA franchise.<\/p>\n
The last time the Knicks were in the NBA Finals was 1999, when they faced the Spurs.<\/p>\n
A Knicks victory in Game 3 would put them on the brink at 3-0, while a Spurs win could spark a comeback and extend the series.<\/p>\n
As a longtime Knicks fan, President Donald Trump, who was invited by team owner James Dolan, will attend Game 3. This will mark the first time a sitting president attends an NBA Finals game.<\/p>\n
In Game 1 on Wednesday, June 3, the Knicks rallied from a double-digit deficit to defeat the Spurs 105-95, with Brunson leading the way with 30 points.<\/p>\n
Game 2 on Friday, June 5, proved even tighter: New York built a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter only for San Antonio to storm back, but the Knicks held on for a thrilling 105-104 victory after Victor Wembanyama, age 22, the tallest player in the NBA at 7 feet 4 inches and a record-setting rookie, missed a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer following a late turnover.<\/p>\n
\u201cWemby,\u201d as he is called, made NBA history in his 2023-24 rookie season with the Spurs, becoming the first player ever to record at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks, and 100 three-pointers in a single season. He was the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie First Team selection in 2024.<\/p>\n
In 2025-26, he captured NBA Defensive Player of the Year, making him the youngest and first unanimous winner ever.<\/p>\n
The series now shifts to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Monday, June 8, at 8:30 p.m. ET, with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, at the same time and venue. Subsequent games, if necessary, return to San Antonio for Game 5 on June 13, followed by Game 6 in New York on June 16 and a potential Game 7 back in San Antonio on June 19.<\/p>\n
The winner earns their franchise\u2019s next title. If they win, the Knicks will earn their first since 1973, while the title will be the Spurs\u2019 first since 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The archbishops of San Antonio and New York announced a \u201cfriendly wager\u201d as the San Antonio Spurs and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4924,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-329248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-archdiocese-of-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}