The New York Knicks went into San Antonio and landed the first haymaker of the NBA Finals, winning Game 1 105-95. Jalen Brunson finished with 30-points, while battling through multiple injuries. The first came when Landry Shamet tossed Harrison Barnes aside on a box out attempt, unfortunately Brunson was nearby and took a shot on his knee. Cameras caught him going back to the Knicks locker room, presumably to get some treatment. He came back to the bench a few minutes later and checked back into the game. He seemed OK. The second injury came when he made a shot along the baseline and hit the deck. Luke Kornet, who was contesting the shot, stumbled to the ground and stepped right on Brunson’s ankle. Jalen was down in pain for a second before hopping up and giving the nearest referee a piece of his mind about the physical play. This, added to the fact Brunson shot poorly in the first half, makes it more impressive he willed himself out of the funk and dragged the Knicks to victory with his bucket making ability late in the game.

Heading into the fourth quarter with the game tied at 76, Jalen Brunson saved some of his best for last. There was the personal 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter, with the game tied. Brunson kept switching onto Julian Champagnie and driving into the lane, either making the layup or floater or getting fouled. He also made the biggest shot of the game when he nailed a corner 3 right in front of the Spurs bench to put the Knicks up for good 97-95 with 1:50 left, sparking an 11-0 run to end the game. He was outstanding in the most critical of moments.

Karl-Anthony Towns also played well, finishing with 18-points and 12 rebounds. The most impressive part of his night was the ability to keep Victor Wembanyama away from the paint and shooting 3’s or long jumpers. Vic was largely kept off the offensive glass as well. There was a dangerous moment in the third quarter when KAT picked up his 3rd foul and could’ve spiraled. Instead, he stayed mentally strong and played stout defense and rebounded without fouling. Hats off to him.

In the few minutes KAT was on the bench, Mitchell Robinson did exactly what was asked of him. He didn’t score much, and missed a dunk, but played strong defense on Wemby. Late in the fourth quarter he didn’t bite on a Wemby pump-fake and stayed anchored to the Frenchmen forcing a turnover. Given the hand injury he sustained, it’s a slight miracle he was as effective as he was.

There was no way Landry Shamet was going to shoot above 90% from 3-point range again, but he did chip in with 13-points off the bench, including 3-6 from 3. OG Anunoby hit a pair of 3’s in the fourth quarter, in addition to icing the game at the free throw line, finishing with a quiet 17-points. Josh Hart was the unsung hero for the Knicks. While he only scored 3 points, his impact was felt in many other areas. He led the team with a game-high 15 rebounds, made the right pass when given the opportunity, did all he could on defense when switched onto Wemby and forced a handful of Spurs turnovers. He was all over the court, doing a bit of everything.

Flipping over to San Antonio, this was a disappointing start to the NBA Finals for them. Especially since they came out of halftime and added to their lead, which ballooned up to 14-point midway through the third quarter. There was a moment when they could’ve landed a KO blow, but instead decided it was time for Wemby to come rest on the bench. This disrupted the offense greatly and the Spurs went into a massive funk, while New York was afforded a chance to breath and attack the rim, getting some easy bucket to cut into the deficit. Wemby had to quickly check back in and didn’t get the proper amount of rest he needed to stay effectively down the stretch. He seemed to run out of gas late in the fourth quarter. Wembanyama ended up playing 38 minutes, which is too many. Mitch Johnson needs to top out his playing time at around 36 minutes. Wemby’s ultra-competitive and wants to play every single minutes, it just happens that his 7-4 frame can’t endure that type of extended movement.

Julian Champagnie had a tremendous first half, scoring 15-points on 5 made 3-pt shots, but fell silent in the second half only scoring a single point. Stephon Castle played alright, scoring 17-points and playing some solid defense. The problem being they need more offense from the second year player, especially when De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell combine to score 16 total points. The Vassell game is slightly more excusable due to the fact he’s mostly a catch-and-shoot guy, but Fox only dropping 7-points is a massive problem. He’s the oldest starter and should be taking pressure off Wemby and Castle with his scoring, offensive initiation and general leadership. Instead, he’s picking up silly, cheap fouls, not staying concentrated during box out situations and, most importantly, not hitting shots. Maybe the ankle is still bothering him, but if it is, he needs to tell someone that he’s still hurt and needs more/different treatment. Point blank, he needs to play much, much better.

One of the more disappointing elements of the Spurs has been the lackluster play of sixth-man of the year Keldon Johnson. He averaged 13.2 PPG in the regular season on .519/.363/.794 shooting splits. However, in the postseason he’s only at 8.7 PPG on .417/.360/.629 shooting splits. His 3-ball is erratic, he can’t seem to drive to the basket anymore, his shot around the rim seem to get blocked more often, he gets beat on the offensive glass and can’t play defense without fouling. Nothing has gone right for him this postseason. The only player who can hold their head high is Dylan Harper. He was excellent, scoring 16-points on 6-10 shooting. Although, he did most of his work in the first half and was relatively quiet in the second half. He will need to develop his 3-pt shot over the offseason to take his offensive game to the next level.

Overall, it was a sensational evening for the New York Knicks and their many travelling fans, including the lengthy list of celebrity fans like Ben Stiller, Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet who made the trek to Texas. The 11-0 run to end the game was magical, it was like the Knicks five were playing like one, anticipating the others’ movements. While the complete opposite can be said about San Antonio, who only wanted to play through Victor Wembanyama and didn’t have any other way of attacking or initiating offense. Standing around and playing off Victor isn’t the best or only strategy. Mitch Johnson will need to scour the tape and figure out a better way to use Wemby, and the rest of the Spurs, on offense before Game 2 on Friday night. They need to pull out all the stop in order to even the series before it heads back to Madison Square Garden or else things get bleak very quickly for the Spurs.