Jalen Brunson battles through early tweaks and poor form to produce a 13-point 4th-quarter effort that helps decide Game 1.
Jalen Brunson’s game-high 30 points help the Knicks seal a Game 1 victory in the 2026 NBA Finals.
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SAN ANTONIO – The score was tied when New York Knicks All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson checked back into Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Coming out of a timeout, Brunson got the ball near halfcourt, drove left and into the lane and lofted a left-handed scoop shot. It was the first two points of a personal 8-0 run for Brunson and part of a huge fourth quarter from the Knicks’ point guard, who found his offensive touch at the right time, helping the Knicks to a 105-95 victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
Brunson finished with 30 points on 12-for-31 shooting – not the most efficient scoring performance. However, he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, making 5-of-9 shots, including his only 3-point attempt and produced the offense necessary to take a 1-0 series lead.
“He’s a gamer, man,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown. “In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do. We put the ball in his hands and said we are going to live and die with him. And he got it done for us, and that’s happened time after time after time. He got to his spots and he made plays.
The Moment
The Knicks erased a 14-point deficit in the third quarter and were locked in a tight back-and-forth. After Brunson’s scoop, he made two free throws and made another left-handed layup, splitting two defenders through the middle of the paint. He closed out the run with one more left-handed layup as Knicks center Mitchell Robinson screened San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama preventing the 7-foot-4 Kia Defensive Player of the Year from contesting the shot.
“Most importantly, knowing we’re on the road, and knowing my teammates have my back, I think that’s the biggest thing in an environment like this,” Brunson said. “The trust they have in me and the trust I have in them, it’s got us to this point. I mean, I’m very thankful for them every single night we go out there together.”
That final layup put the Knicks up 94-86 with 6:07 remaining in the fourth.
“He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “He’s a phenomenal player. We just got to keep making him work.
“Again, he had a phenomenal game. He got going there, had a few in a row. Thirty points on 31 shots is something that you probably want to keep making him work for those points. Some other stuff we can probably control more than him making or missing shots.”
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