Finals Time Spurs v Knicks - Do We Party Like It's 1999 by Prince or Do We Hear Sinatra Sing New York, New York?

Gm 4 1st Half Highest of Highs; 2nd Half Lowest of Lows 106-107 L SAS 1 NYK 3

Gm 3 Spurs get their 1st Win in the Series at MSG 115-111 SAS 1 NYK 2

Gm 2 Spurs Lose A Tight One 104-105 SAS 0 NYK 2

Gm 1 Spurs Lose 95-105 SAS 0 NYK 1

Points Created Scores for Full Game & for each quarter

good start, terrible ending for SAS

Inverse by NYK

Hart best player NYK low pts, but hustle stats aplenty

JB & OG🔥4th

NYK take turns dominating qtrs - Attack Plan?

Harper best Spur

Fox Awful

Low Energy Vic<KAT

SAS Bench No Show Except DH2 Why so few minutes for Harper 4th Quarter?

 

Preview Finals
We have got a hell of matchup between the San Antonio Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama and the New York Knicks, led by Jalen Brunson. 

In their 2 official matchups, they ended up splitting the season series. I have broken down all the numbers for these 2 official games, and even added the NBA Cup Final, which doesn't count towards the standings but results in prestige and money for all the teams that win when it counts. This season, unfortunately, that NBA Cup Final was won by the Knicks. That was a good game, Victor came off the bench, but he wasn't really himself. We later found out that his grand mother on his Mom's side, had passed away earlier in France, so to say he wasn't fully engaged is an understatement. 

Let's talk Finals -

On Paper, one can say that these 2 teams look to be fairly similar in terms of success. But are they really? People point out to how dominant the Knicks played in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Others point out that the Spurs had defeated some powerhouse teams including last year's Western Conference Finals Participants, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and then to further cement their impact, in a classic 7 game series against the defending NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs pushed them out to an early vacation. 

I'm not sure how it's going to go. I just see the Spurs relentless defensive pressure slowly wilt the Knicks and their fabulous offense. Wembanyama is 7-4(could be taller) and Brunson is 6-1. This is a classic question... Can a team with a Great small Leader beat a team with a Great BIG Leader?

I think the Spurs can and will defeat the Knicks. It will go at least 6 IMHO. Some Spurs fans want a repeat of 1999 with a 4-1 score. I don't think it will be a Gentleman's Sweep, the Knicks are hungry to give their city something to cheer about.

Both teams are led by Gregg Popovich disciples. Knicks Coach, Mike Brown, was part of the 2003 Spurs Championship staff. Spurs Coach, Mitch Johnson, has taken the reigns from El Jefe, and is now Pounding the Rock with his team. 

The Man In Black SAS v NYK 2026 NBA Finals Primer

Here is the link to my spreadsheets that include each game played and their Points Created Numbers. I also provide their Season Points Created Numbers as well as both team's playoff Points Created Numbers prior to the Finals as well. 

Using those stats, here's the Top 15 Best Players going into the Finals:

Victor Wembanyama

Karl-Anthony Towns

OG Anunoby

Jalen Brunson

Stephon Castle

Josh Hart

De'Aaron Fox

Mikal Bridges

Dylan Harper

Julian Champagnie

Devin Vassell

Luke Kornet

Mitchell Robinson

Keldon Johnson

Miles McBride

For each game matchup, I also included Defensive Ratings for matchups. Remember for DefRtg, the lower the score, the better.

And finally, there are Wingspan Diagrams to help provide a visual on how much length may affect the game play. 
 

I will add the projected starters for Game 1 here as well so you can see the diagrams here as well.

Wingspan Length



Wingspan Circles +2 Ft Radius

Height & Wingspan Side-by-Side - The Circles represent Catch/Defense Reach Radius