Jalen Brunson’s game-high 30 points help the Knicks seal a Game 1 victory in the 2026 NBA Finals.
SAN ANTONIO – The score was tied when New York Knicks All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson checked back into Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Coming out of a timeout, Brunson got the ball near halfcourt, drove left and into the lane and lofted a left-handed scoop shot. It was the first two points of a personal 8-0 run for Brunson and part of a huge fourth quarter from the Knicks’ point guard, who found his offensive touch at the right time, helping the Knicks to a 105-95 victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
Brunson finished with 30 points on 12-for-31 shooting – not the most efficient scoring performance. However, he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, making 5-of-9 shots, including his only 3-point attempt and produced the offense necessary to take a 1-0 series lead.
“He’s a gamer, man,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown. “In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do. We put the ball in his hands and said we are going to live and die with him. And he got it done for us, and that’s happened time after time after time. He got to his spots and he made plays.
The Moment
The Knicks erased a 14-point deficit in the third quarter and were locked in a tight back-and-forth. After Brunson’s scoop, he made two free throws and made another left-handed layup, splitting two defenders through the middle of the paint. He closed out the run with one more left-handed layup as Knicks center Mitchell Robinson screened San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama preventing the 7-foot-4 Kia Defensive Player of the Year from contesting the shot.
“Most importantly, knowing we’re on the road, and knowing my teammates have my back, I think that’s the biggest thing in an environment like this,” Brunson said. “The trust they have in me and the trust I have in them, it’s got us to this point. I mean, I’m very thankful for them every single night we go out there together.”
That final layup put the Knicks up 94-86 with 6:07 remaining in the fourth.
“He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “He’s a phenomenal player. We just got to keep making him work.
“Again, he had a phenomenal game. He got going there, had a few in a row. Thirty points on 31 shots is something that you probably want to keep making him work for those points. Some other stuff we can probably control more than him making or missing shots.”
Big buckets keep coming
Jalen Brunson puts on a gutsy display late in the game as the Knicks rally to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals
The Spurs weren’t finished, taking a 95-94 lead with 2:16 remaining after Wembanyama made two free throws. On the Knicks’ next possession, OG Anunoby missed a 3-pointer and Brunson tipped the long rebound to Mikal Bridges. Brunson drifted into the right corner, Bridges delivered a pass and Brunson knocked down a 3 for a 97-95 Knicks lead.
San Antonio never scored again as New York closed the game on an 11-0 run. Brunson scored one more basket during that run – a difficult, off-balance 15-footer.
“With the ball in his hands, I’m never surprised,” said Knicks center-forward Karl-Anthony Towns. “I tell you, that last shot, I think it was a shoot-floater. That was nasty, I ain’t going to lie.”
1st half frustrations stay in the locker room
It was vintage Brunson in the fourth quarter – dissecting the defense, using the angles, converting clever shots in the paint and taking control of the game.
“Like the young people say, he went to his bag tonight and got it done,” Brown said.
Brunson is one of the league’s top closeout performers – he won Kia Clutch Player of the Year in 2024-25 – and is the leading fourth-quarter scorer in this year’s Playoffs, averaging 9.8 points in the final period. It’s a continuation of his career-long clutch postseason success:
Overall in the fourth quarter of playoff games, Brunson is 41-for-70 from the field (58.5%), including 9-for-14 on 3s; and a stunning 27-for-29 on free throws
Early in the third quarter on Wednesday, Brunson, who committed three of his four turnovers in the first half, was sitting on a 5-for-18 shooting night. He went 7-for-13 the rest of the way.
“Continue to trust the things I’ve worked on my entire life,” Brunson said. “I think my teammates having the confidence in me also gives me an extra boost.”
Brunson also left the court twice in pain after leg and ankle tweaks but returned both times – once after San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes fell into Brunson’s right knee and once when he turned his ankle as he landed after a shot attempt.
“Jalen came back, tough as nails, and to me he didn’t seem like he had any effect afterwards,” Brown said. “I haven’t talked to our medical people. He didn’t look like it was bothering him down the stretch, and so I think he’s OK.”
Said Towns: “When we all saw him limp off, we were worried not only because he’s Jalen Brunson but more because he’s our brother and we are a family in our locker room. But when we were on the court and I saw him walking back out to the bench, it was a relief just to know he’s safe.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.