Knicks, Spurs renew 1999 Finals rivalry in historic 2026 series
The Knicks chased their first title since 1973 while the Spurs hunted No. 6, and their 1999 rematch turned into a road-team battle after three games.
The 2026 NBA Finals reopened an old rivalry with new stakes, and the first three games have already changed the shape of the series. The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs met again in a rematch of the 1999 Finals, with New York seeking its first championship since 1973 and San Antonio trying to win its first title since 2014. The series opened June 3 in San Antonio, then quickly turned into a contest defined by pressure, history and an unusual pattern: the road team won every game through Game 3.
New York arrived with momentum that had looked almost untouchable. The Knicks entered the Finals on an 11-game playoff winning streak, then stretched it to 13 straight postseason victories after the first two games, before the Spurs finally stopped the run. That 13-game surge stood as the second-longest single-postseason winning streak in NBA history, behind only the 2016 Warriors, and it had put New York on the edge of talk usually reserved for all-time teams. Jalen Brunson set the tone in Game 1 with 30 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks finished on an 11-0 run for a 105-95 victory.
The Spurs answered by dragging the matchup back toward balance. After New York’s 105-104 Game 2 win, San Antonio took Game 3, 115-111, on June 8 at Madison Square Garden to earn its first Finals win of the series and cut into the Knicks’ early control. The Spurs had already proven their resilience by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the Western Conference finals, and now they were trying to turn that playoff toughness into a title run. The turnaround came against a Knicks team that had also beaten San Antonio in the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup title game, adding another layer to a rivalry that has now crossed multiple stages of the season.
The larger story reaches beyond one series. San Antonio’s run has centered on Victor Wembanyama and a roster trying to return the franchise to basketball’s mountaintop for the sixth time, with Gregg Popovich still looming as a defining influence on the organization. New York, meanwhile, has carried the weight of a long championship drought and the expectations of its biggest market. However the rest of the Finals unfolds, this matchup has already reset the league conversation around power, star pathways and which franchise can turn a hot postseason into a lasting era.
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