Game 1 of the NBA Finals lived up to all the hype with the New York Knicks outlasting the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday.

The victory extends the Knicks’ playoff win streak to 12 games, becoming the seventh team in NBA history to reach the feat.

But it certainly wasn’t an easy road to the win for the Knicks.

Offense was the name of the game to start with both teams trading buckets.

After New York jumped out to a 12-7 lead, rookie phenom Dylan Harper Jr. came off the bench for the Spurs and helped orchestrate a 20-5 run to end the quarter.

Concern grew on the Knicks sideline as star guard Jalen Brunson hobbled off the court after San Antonio forward Harrison Barnes fell into the three-time All-Star’s right knee as a result of a foul.

The 29-year-old checked out of the game and was seen limping back to the locker room as the first quarter came to an end.

As the offensive tug-of-war continued into the second quarter and New York cut the lead down to three, Brunson finally appeared back on the bench and checked back into the game as Knicks fans breathed a sigh of relief.

But the injury bug came back to rear its ugly head as Brunson yet again appeared to be in discomfort after Spurs center Luke Kornet stepped on his ankle. Despite the apparent pain, Brunson got up, yelled at the refs and continued playing.

What followed was eight straight points for the Knicks captain, but the Spurs took a seven-point advantage into halftime.

All the back-and-forth came to an ice-cold end to start the second half as the Knicks only mustered two points through the first five minutes of the third quarter, as the Spurs’ lead grew to as many as 14.

Victor Wembanyama, who had an unusually quiet night up to that point, headed to the bench limping a bit and that’s when the Knicks took advantage.

New York cut the lead down to three points behind Karl-Anthony Towns with just under two minutes to play in the quarter.

The 22-year-old French superstar checked back in, showing no signs of any discomfort, but all the momentum was with the Knicks as the quarter ended with the score knotted up at 76-76.(CNN International, 2026-06-05)