The Knicks ended Game 2 in the best possible way: going back to Madison Square Garden with two wins. Never in the history of the NBA Finals has a team lifted the Larry O'Brien after dropping the first two games at home.
Meaning, the San Antonio Spurs, while not playing badly, didn't bring what was needed for such a big game. Now, they're in a historically deep hole.
Victor Wembanyama had said the Spurs needed to "stay true to themselves," and you could see their intent to develop a real passing game early on. Open shots were falling quickly, but New York had depth and stayed right in the hunt.
Jalen Brunson wasted no time making his mark.
The Knicks are here
We also saw a lot of Karl-Anthony Towns, whose determination to impact the game was clear. But San Antonio had the upper hand, attacking the paint to try to build a lead.
That eventually happened as De'Aaron Fox made up for his Game 1 disappearance. The Spurs' efforts paid off as the Knicks took a hit after 12 minutes.
Wemby was slow to start, only scoring seven points in the first half as he was unable to assert himself near the rim.
KAT gave Wemby some problems on defense, but the battle turned into a spectacle, and the Knicks seemed to have an answer for everything, until a series of avoidable fouls briefly threw them off track.
They soon found their rhythm again, especially on defense, and pulled back even. And while the last minutes of the half were disappointing in terms of quality, New York made the most of it and managed to cool off the Spurs' offense.
That was enough to take a 56-52 lead at halftime.
New York in the driver's seat
The intensity didn't drop after halftime. But it was the Knicks who quickly found their shooting touch, building a ten-point lead. As long as the shots were falling, everything was fine, until two quick fouls by KAT forced him to the bench.
San Antonio started to chip away at the deficit, but an impressive Mikal Bridges kept the Knicks afloat during their rough patch.
San Antonio started to lack offensively, while having defensive lapses, as they found themselves trailing 84-75 heading into the third quarter. And the Knicks didn't stop there, showing off their roster depth, with Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado making a real impact on the game.
The minutes ticked by, and there was no real sense of a comeback from the Spurs.
Dylan Harper tried to shake things up, but it didn't have much effect. The real spark finally came from Fox, and suddenly, the momentum shifted, forcing Mike Brown to use up his precious timeouts.
But it wasn't enough.
The Knicks' lead vanished in just a few poorly managed minutes, and Harper happily tied the game with three minutes left.
The Spurs had just gone on a 14-0 run, and New York needed to respond.
New York still had the edge, but Wemby finally made his presence felt with a crucial three-point play as the final minute began.
But after Brunson tied it up, both stars missed shots, and worse, San Antonio gave away two free throws - Brunson made only one, and the Spurs had the ball for the last shot.
Unfortunately, Wemby took the final shot after a well-executed play...and missed as the Spurs lost 105-104.
The Knicks struck gold with their trip to San Antonio. Now, they head back to MSG, where a crowd of Knicks fans who are prepared to be historically loud awaits them.
Game 3 between the Knicks and Spurs is scheduled for Monday, June 8th.