SAN ANTONIO — Jalen Brunson fueled New York’s first victory of the NBA Finals with his fourth-quarter offense and he set up its Game 2 win with his fifth steal.
And suddenly, the underdog Knicks are two victories away from their first NBA championship since 1973.
Brunson and the Knicks aren’t planning any title-winning parades but they placed the San Antonio Spurs in a huge hole with a 105-104 victory on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“It’s a team effort. We found a way to win these two games,” said Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2. “It’s a shout-out to everybody coming together for a greater cause.”
After Brunson stole the ball, he converted the go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left as New York claimed its 13th straight postseason victory, passing the 1999 Spurs for the second-longest such streak in NBA history.
The sequence began with San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama throwing the ball off the back of teammate Stephon Castle, who was in the backcourt heading toward the midcourt line. Brunson retrieved the ball, was fouled and split two free throws to give New York a one-point lead.
“I saw he wasn’t looking so I just tried to go get it,” Brunson said of Castle. “I just didn’t want Wemby to come back and get it.”
San Antonio still had a chance to leave victorious but Wembanyama missed a 20-foot shot before time expired as the Knicks racked up their eighth consecutive road victory.
“Of course, I liked the shot,” Wembanyama said. “I feel like in this moment you need to shoot to score. In moments like this, it’s like results matter more than process, if you know what I mean.
“We just need to score. I just need to score. That’s the whole point.”
Wembanyama totaled 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots but committed four turnovers and has made 10 through two games.
He took responsibility for the ill-advised pass off Castle’s back.
“I threw that one away,” Wembanyama said. “I messed up. We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours. But at this point, it’s done.
“Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course. Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely.”
Castle said he was dashing up court to give Wembanyama some room to work with.
“I was looking at him when he first got the rebound,” Castle said. “I just started to take off to try to give him some space to dribble up the court. I didn’t see him throw it to me.”
Game 3 is on Monday in New York, which will also be the site of Game 4 on Wednesday.
Brunson scored 20 points after pouring in 30 in Game 1, including 13 in the fourth quarter of that 105-95 victory.
Mikal Bridges also scored 20 and OG Anunoby added 17 points. Landry Shamet scored 13 off the bench for New York, which squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter before recovering.
De’Aaron Fox scored 20 points for the Spurs. Dylan Harper tallied 15 off the bench while Castle and Devin Vassell had 14 points apiece.
Wembanyama’s three-point play with 57.3 seconds left gave the Spurs a 104-102 edge, their first lead of the second half. Brunson answered with a jumper to tie it with 39.3 seconds remaining.
The Knicks shot 41.6% from the field, including 15 of 38 (39.5%) from 3-point range.
San Antonio made 47.4% of its attempts and was 11 of 29 (37.9%) from behind the arc.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson is counting on his team to step up its play as the series turns to Madison Square Garden.
“We don’t feel like we played well or up to our standard at least in the last two games,” Johnson said. “New York has played very well and they’re a part of that. But we’re going to go into Game 3, if we play our brand of basketball up to our standard, we’ll be just fine.”
The Spurs trailed by 14 midway through the fourth quarter before going on a 14-0 run to knot the score at 97.
Fox had five straight points during the burst and Devin Vassell buried a straightaway 3-pointer to bring San Antonio within two. Harper then got the roll on a short jumper to tie the game with 2:59 remaining.
“Obviously, they made their run towards the end,” New York coach Mike Brown said. “And you know, we could have folded a few times. But our guys just kept fighting.”
New York led 84-75 entering the final stanza and the margin was soon 12 after Shamet sank a 3-pointer. The Spurs answered with seven straight points to move within 87-82 before Shamet buried a trey to start a 10-1 run.
Brunson added a driving basket, Miles “Deuce” McBride canned a wide-open 3-pointer and Anunoby slammed home a dunk against Wembanyama’s defense to give the Knicks a 97-83 advantage with 6:04 left.
Towns had 17 points and seven rebounds in the first half as the Knicks led 56-52 at the break. Fox scored 12 in the half for San Antonio.
After the Spurs were on top by as much as 12, the Knicks led for the first time on Shamet’s basket for a 49-48 lead with 3:39 left in the second quarter.
–Field Level Media