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349 - Knicks erase 14 point deficit and win thrilling Game 1 of NBA Finals!

• Don Signorino

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0:00 | 19:38

Led By Brunson and KAT, the Knicks shook off the rust and erased a 14 point 3rd quarter deficit and used a bit of Brunson magic to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals 105-95.  This is the Knicks' 12th straight playoff victory!

The Knicks didn’t win Game 1 with a perfect box score, they won it with backbone. After looking rusty, missing shots, and falling behind by 14 in the third quarter, we watched New York flip the night in San Antonio with defense, composure, and the kind of closing execution that wins championships.

I break down the swing moments, starting with how Jalen Brunson turned a rough shooting night into another clutch masterclass, drilling the shots that matter most in the final minutes. But we also make the case that Karl-Anthony Towns was the engine of the comeback, steadying the offense, cleaning the glass, and playing smart positional defense while staying out of foul trouble. That last part is a huge NBA Finals storyline, especially with Mitchell Robinson battling a finger injury and the rotation needing stability.

I also dig into the chess match against the Spurs, including how the Knicks defended Victor Wembanyama, why transition defense tightened up late, and what needs to improve if San Antonio’s elite defense keeps squeezing the half-court offense. Plus: Josh Hart’s ice-cold scoring paired with monster rebounding, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges delivering late free throws, and the bizarre fan-on-court interruption that could’ve wrecked momentum but didn’t. The Knicks are now riding a 12-game playoff win streak, and Game 2 suddenly feels massive.

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Welcome And Game One Setup

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Jersey Guy Sport, George Board Dog home for the Yanks, the Giants, the Knicks, the Rangers, and the Russian Charlotte Knights. And I'm your host, Don. I want to thank you for listening. Today I'm going to be discussing the New York Knicks, who came back and won a thrilling Game One, 105-95 as Brunson's late heroics again. Carry the Knicks. Let's go ahead and get started.

Knicks Rally From 14 Down

SPEAKER_00

So let's go, baby. The New York Knicks in game one of the NBA Finals won a thrilling game in which they were down 14 points in the third quarter. And they came away with a 105-95 victory in San Antonio to steal at least one of the two road games and go up 1-0 in the NBA Finals. So let's go, baby. And what a thrilling game it was. The Knicks certainly showed some rust early, even though they had a very early lead, but you could tell that they were missing lots of shots, mostly due to rust and somewhat due to what looked like really good defense from the San Antonio Spurs, who I have to admit was a little bit rooting for Dylan Harper, you know, me being a big Rutgers fan. And it's great to see Dylan Harper doing well, but I don't want him to do well against the Knicks. And Harper really had a good game and showed that he's probably going to be a superstar in the NBA. But early on, he was helping San Antonio to take a pretty good sized lead over the Knicks. And by the third quarter, the Knicks were down 14 points, and you know, we weren't sure what was going to happen, but the Knicks hung in there, and Kat really, really contributed to the Knicks coming back and playing well. Brunson is going to get a lot of the accolades. Brunson ended up with 30 points, and he did what he always does in the last two minutes. He hit a couple huge, huge shots, even though he didn't make them all. When it really mattered, he had a big corner three to put the Knicks ahead. And then it's just an amazing, you know, spinning, fading away shot over a few people that just was unbelievable with about 47 seconds left. Just incredible, incredible play at the very end of the game by Brunson. And we've come to expect this kind of play. And the Knicks take a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals in a game that really, really was thrilling and exciting.

Court Intruder And Calm Response

SPEAKER_00

It also featured a fan running out onto the court right in the middle of the Knicks' big surge. The Knicks came back and took the lead after being down by 14. They had like a five or six-point lead and they were really had all the momentum. And all of a sudden, this fan comes out, tries to take a selfie. Security has to tackle them and bring them off the court. And it was like, this is going to ruin all the momentum. There was all this, you know, confusion about who would get it. It ended up being a jump ball. Didn't matter. The Knicks kept their composure. Brown had the right people in at the right time. When people were not playing well, he took him out of the game. Bridges at times was not playing well, and he took him out and put Shammon in. Shaman ended up getting a couple big buckets, although he didn't do a whole ton this game. Bridges certainly didn't do a lot, but you know, when it mattered, he made some big free throws and a few shots that mattered at the end. We really didn't have a lot of people playing well, but I guess we played pretty good defense as a team.

Defending Wembanyama And Shaking Rust

SPEAKER_00

We certainly held Wemby in check. That was obviously the big challenge. The 22-year-old absolute phenom superstar of San Antonio, 7'5. If there's anyone listening that doesn't know who Victor Webinan is, he's a 22-year-old superstar center for San Antonio that may lead that may win the league MVP this year, who's just incredible. He had a 40, what, 41.24 rebound performance in the game one of the conference finals, in the Western Conference Finals. He's been spectacular this season, spectacular in the playoffs. He's an incredible defender. He's the NBA defensive player of the year. It's very hard to get any kind of shots in the paint off against him or drive. But the Knicks found a way between the good news that, you know, Mitch Robinson was able to play, and Mitch Robinson typically plays Wemby pretty well, you know, and Kat playing a spectacular game, both offensively and defensively. And there's the rest of the team playing good team defense on Wemby. All that mixed together led to a very good defensive performance around Wemby specifically. And in general, there were some times early where the Knicks seemed to give up a lot of open shots. We played particularly poor transition defense early on. Some of it has to be Rust, too, right? Because the whole Russ versus Rust, another nine days off for the Knicks, you know, like we came out against Cleveland in the last series, right? In that first game, really bad in the beginning. Some of that's going to wear off, right? And I think certainly that transition D that was poor tightened up a lot at the end. And I think, you know, Brown will have the team a little bit better focused, you know, for the next game when it comes to transition defense. But the Knicks picked it up. They played well as a team. Brunson hit some incredible shots in the last three minutes, and the Knicks came away with a victory.

Towns Sparks The Turnaround

SPEAKER_00

But I have to say, before Brunson did any of what he did in the fourth quarter, where Brunson had 13 points, Brunson was not playing well. The whole team, except for maybe Kat, was not playing well. And then in the third quarter, after they were down 14, and nobody could hit anything, it was Carl Anthony Towns that picked the Nets up, picked the Knicks up off the ground, and just sort of carried them on his back. He was hitting shots, he was defending well, he was getting big rebounds, getting fouled, making his free throws when no one else was doing anything. Brunson was missing shots and Deuce was missing shots and Shaman wasn't hitting anything. OG wasn't doing anything. Hart could not hit, you know, the ocean from the beach with the ball. Like really nobody was shooting well at all. Robinson couldn't do much. Maybe the hand played apart. Nobody could do anything. And Kat just started really, really playing well and leading us sort of out of the abyss. Then it came to the fourth quarter where Brunson, for the most part, took over. It wasn't a typical takeover for Brunson. It was a little bit of an up and down fourth quarter, but when it really mattered, Brunson made the huge shots. And throughout most of the fourth quarter, Brunson really, really played well. But Carl Anthony Towns really was the unsung hero in my mind of this. Brunson is going to get all the accolades, and because of the way it finished, rightly so. But when it really mattered, you know, when we were in danger of really getting blown out, it was Kat that sort of turned the momentum of this game around. And I hope that gets acknowledged from, you know, the writers and some of the announcers, because Carl Anthony Towns has played a tremendous playoffs throughout, and he had a tremendous game one. And later on I'll I'll look through the stats here a little bit. But whatever his stats end up being, he played very, very, very well. Hit hit some big free throws, had lots of rebounds, had a couple good blocks, really hit some big shots when it mattered. Cat again deserves lots of accolades for this game. And again, the team guarding Wemby the way they did really went a long way to the Knicks being able to clamp down on defense and come back and win

Hart’s Cold Night And Huge Boards

SPEAKER_00

this game. Now we did not get much of anything from Josh Hart, as I mentioned, and he was cold as ice. You know, it was another one of these games. Sometimes when Hart is not shooting well, you know, you see the Knicks come up, pass the ball around, make some quick passes. Maybe it'll end up with in Hart's hands at the top of the three-point line with nobody within 10 feet of him, and he doesn't shoot. He's looking to pass to somebody else. And this is one of those games where he was shooting so poorly that even when he got an open look, he would be quickly, you know, either pass it right off or take two, you know, steps to drive C Wemby and then try to pass it off afterwards. That's how poor you know he was playing offensively. But he met up for all of that with some spectacular rebounding. I'll tell you what, Josh Hart on his worst day is one of the best rebounders in the game, and he continues to work really, really hard to get in position to get both defensive and offensive rebounds. And once again, in a game where he was just pathetically awful offensively, Josh Hart was just a monster on the boards, just a monster. And it really helped us. So while he was about as bad as it gets offensively, he did contribute in a big way with how many rebounds he got. And he had a few big steals, too. You can add that. And by the way, OG also had a very slow start, and then he came up huge late in the fourth quarter. He had a big three and a couple other big shots, and he and Bridges actually hit, I'd say, six big free throws in the last minute of the game, six for six, and they were huge. You know, when you're trying to defend a one, three-point lead, you know, you can't be missing free throws, and they hit every single free throw. And again, that sometimes goes unheralded. But both OG and Bridges hit some big free throws. I know this was a game for Bridges where he didn't do a whole lot, although he didn't play terribly poorly. He certainly wasn't as involved as he could have been.

Spurs Defense And Knicks Pace Plan

SPEAKER_00

And again, a lot of this can be attributed to the excellent, excellent San Antonio defense, which is a seismic step up from the defenses that the Knicks have faced in the past. And I know they had him beat in Philly, but he was injured. And I know that, you know, there were some good defenders on Cleveland, you know, the couple bigger players there. And, you know, Atlanta offered some challenges, even though they were a smaller team, but this is a significant step up defensively from any of those teams. And the Knicks are gonna have to really fight claw, you know, really lay some good screens down, come up with some inventive offensive plays to continue to get open shots because it is not going to be easy, I can tell already. And Wemby had a very, very off-offensive game, and the Knicks were still in trouble for most of the game. So if Wemby starts to go off offensively, the Knicks have really have to be prepared to clamp down defensively and have to be have a good game plan, you know, in order to get off some good set shots in their set offense here. And and they should also look to really speed up the game more than they are and take it to the hoop and get out more in transition. And there were times where I think Wemby slowed them down a lot, but they sometimes have to try to just play through it and see where they can get. Drive towards them, make them take a foul if possible, pass out of it, but don't just shy away from the key on when you're coming down on the fast break because Wemby's around. You know, maybe keep the speed up. Early in the game, they did that. Later in the game, they had a little trouble doing that, but they're much more effective when they can play faster. And the Knicks have a lot of great open court players that can help. And Bridges is one of them, and OG is another. Certainly Brunson is great on in the open court, and some of the other folks too. There's lots of good Josh Hart on the break is actually tremendous, but the Knicks need to look to get more of that out of their offense and look to have better offensive sets because they won this game, but they won it with very strong defensive play and without a lot of people being great on offense. It was a gritty, tough win. They didn't draw a lot of fouls, they didn't shoot a lot of free throws, but they outplayed San Antonio when it mattered. They had Brunson, and the other team doesn't have Brunson, and they got excellent, excellent play from Kat when it really mattered, and that's how the Knicks won this

Stat Check And Who Delivered

SPEAKER_00

game. As we look through the stats from the games, let's see. So Josh Hart only ended up with three points, it looks like. So, no, he did not have a good game at all offensively. But there it is, 15 rebounds. Josh Hart had 15 rebounds. Again, I'm not I have not seen these stats until this moment. So 15 rebounds, but only three points. So we know he did not play well at all offensively, but when you can have 15 rebounds, including 13 defensive rebounds, that is an excellent contribution, even though you know could not score at all. Uh OG did end up with 17 points, and again, he started to play well at the end of the game after a slow start, so good on him. And he had his normal, good, you know, defensive game like he always does. He had a couple rebounds, and you know, he got a block and a steal. Everything he always does, OG. Carl Anthony Towns ended with 18 points and 12 rebounds, you know, another really good game. Hit all his free throws, shot 7-15, you know, really just another great game. Bunch of assists. He had four more assists. Another excellent all-around game for Carl Anthony Towns and sort of the silent MVP of this game. If if Brunson was the actual MVP, Kat was sort of the behind-the-scenes MVP on this one. Brunson, as we mentioned, had 30 points, but really didn't shoot well overall. 12 of 31 total. But when it really mattered, again, late in the game, last two minutes, you know who's going to hit all the shots, and that's Jalen Brunson. And he did it again. He did it again. What are you going to say about Brunson, man? And, you know, there is only one team that has Brunson and only one player like him. And, you know, lots of good players, lots of excellent players, lots of clutch players in the NBA. There is one Jalen Brunson, and he is on the New York Knicks, and it showed again, and his value can just not be overstated. It's unbelievable. Last person I want to mention is Mitchell Robinson, because we didn't know if he was going to play at all because of his broken pinky finger. He ended up with only two points. Did not really contribute that much at all. There was a couple dunks that he missed. You know, some of it was, again, due to good defense. One of the one of the missed dunks was not due to good defense. He just missed it. But there was a few that, you know, sometimes he powers through the, you know, the blocks and jams it anyway. It's hard to say, right? It's hard to say. Shamit had 13 points and a couple big threes. The Knicks played just great as a team. As a team, right? Each individual, really, I don't know there's anyone that played great other than the My Mind Towns, played great. But well what a team win. And what a big win for the Knicks.

Home Court Swing And Harper Take

SPEAKER_00

And if you step back and you look at it from a big picture standpoint, it's a huge win. Because the Knicks are a little bit, tiny bit playing with house money here. Because when you open up on the road, you know, you're you think, okay, let me try to steal one of the two road games and then gain the home court advantage. Well, the Knicks have now done that, right? If the Knicks win their three home games, they win the, they win the championship, right? Because they've already won one, they win their three home games, that's it. So the Knicks now effectively have home court advantage. And and now if they can somehow steal the second game on the road, they can be in command coming home, and that would be wonderful. So the Knicks did what they had to do, even though clearly they were a little bit rusty in the beginning. They faced Wemby, they faced a tremendous Dylan Harper, who had an excellent, excellent start to the game, and then really didn't get to take a lot of shots the rest of the game. I thought that San Antonio probably should have actually used Dylan Harper more than they ended up doing in the second half. And if I'm that coach, I'm using Harper more because he he just is about as good as I remember him at Ruckers and better. You know, he's strong in the paint, he's big, he's six foot six, you know, he can power through, he finishes in traffic, and he continued to do that against the Knicks today, and the Knicks do need to find a way to put some, you know, get get in his way.

Towns Foul Trouble And Robinson Concern

SPEAKER_00

What I was very much impressed with with Kat, by the way, and I forgot to mention this before, I talked about all the things he did offensively and defensively. I want to talk about one of the things I was worried about that it turns out I didn't need to be, at least in this game, and that is Kat's foul trouble. He, for the most part, stayed out of foul trouble, and I cannot tell you how big a factor that is and will be in the series, is Carl Anthony Towns staying out of foul trouble. And he did. He was very effective at playing good positional defense most of the game without getting in big foul trouble. And that is gonna be an absolute key thing because if Kat ends up in big foul trouble early in games the rest of the series, we are in big trouble, especially when we don't know if we're gonna get anything from Mitchell Robinson yet. Yeah, and this one game that he's playing didn't really tell me anything because he barely scored and he was able to play some defense, but again, if if you have to play Mitchell Robinson big minutes in every game, I don't see the Knicks winning the championship. So it is absolutely critical that Kat continue to refrain from you know his cat staff, right? His Carl Anthony Towns dumbass fouls and not take any of them and just continue to try to do the best he can to defend without taking fouls. And he did that perfectly, I thought, tonight, even though he ended up, you know, with with one or two silly ones. He you know, he didn't end up with five fouls, he didn't foul out. That has to continue. And and you know, good on him. And I wanted to mention that because I didn't mention it before. So Carl Anthony Towns, excellent all-around game, stayed out of foul trouble, helped when you know Mitchell Robinson was an unknown as a backup, giant contributor, Brunson in the clutch, delivering when it matters most, and the Knicks playing outstanding as a team to come back and get a huge road win.

Twelve Straight Wins And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00

And by the way, the New York Knicks have now won twelve consecutive playoff games. Let that sink in for a minute. The New York Knicks have won twelve consecutive playoff games. I mean, when have you heard of something like that? That is just incredible, unbelievable play by the New York Knicks. And the Knicks look to go up 2-0 in game two on Friday night. It's an 8 30 start in San Antonio, and that's gonna do it for the podcast. So let's go, Knicks, baby. Thank you for listening to Jersey Guys Sports. Please subscribe to the podcast, tell your friends all about it. I'll be back soon with some more sports talk. Thanks and have a good day.

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Don Signorino

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