Knicks hold off Spurs, take 2-0 lead in NBA Finals

Karl-Anthony Towns turned the corner, drove baseline and met the longest player in basketball at the rim.

Then he went through him.

Towns dunked on Victor Wembanyama in the second quarter Friday night, screamed in his direction and gave the Knicks the jolt they needed after the San Antonio Spurs spent the early minutes of Game 2 trying to shove them around.

The Spurs hit first. Towns hit harder.

The Knicks held off the San Antonio, 105-104, in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center, taking a 2-0 series lead as the Finals shift to Madison Square Garden on Monday.

The Knicks are now on the cusp of their first championship since 1973. They’ve won 13 consecutive playoff games. They’ve trailed, absorbed pressure, handled foul trouble, answered runs and kept finding different ways to answer whatever has been thrown at them.

Towns finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Mikal Bridges added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, including a brilliant third-quarter stretch when the Knicks needed him most. Jalen Brunson had 20 points, six assists and five steals while fighting through San Antonio’s most aggressive defensive plan of the series.

Wembanyama finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, two assists and four blocks for the Spurs.

This one started as San Antonio’s response game. The Spurs extended their pressure, picked up Brunson and the Knicks’ other ballhandlers high, blitzed Brunson near half court and made every possession feel like a wrestling match.

Brunson had to work just to get the Knicks organized. Josh Hart picked up his second foul with 5:46 left in the first quarter. Mitchell Robinson became a target for intentional fouls, with San Antonio using the strategy to slow the Knicks’ offense, steal extra rest for Wembanyama and force Knicks head coach Mike Brown to bring Towns back before the first quarter ended.

The Spurs led 34-25 after the opening period. They shot 65% from the field and held the Knicks to 38.1%. De’Aaron Fox (20 points) had nine first-quarter points. Julian Champagnie, whom Brown specifically mentioned before the game as someone the Knicks needed to guard better after Game 1, hit two first-quarter 3s and scored eight points.

But Towns changed the tone. His baseline dunk on Wembanyama cut the deficit to five and announced the matchup advantage the Spurs never fully solved. Towns was too strong for Wembanyama’s hand checks, too skilled to crowd and too comfortable pulling him away from the rim. When San Antonio sent help, Towns found shooters. When the Spurs stayed home, he attacked.

ABC cameras caught Towns at halftime saying, “He can’t f--- with me.” His play had already made the point.

Towns posted up Fox in the second quarter and drew late help from Champagnie before kicking to Bridges for a corner 3. The shot cut the Knicks’ deficit to three with 7:03 left in the half and forced a San Antonio timeout. At that point, Towns already had 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The Knicks still had to survive their own mistakes, though. Hart was assessed a Flagrant 1 after tripping Devin Vassell near half court with 5:14 left in the second quarter. Vassell made both free throws, and San Antonio kept possession. Robinson then drew a technical foul after pushing Wembanyama on the block. In a matter of seconds, what had been a two-point Knicks deficit stretched back to five.

The sequence could have sent the game back to San Antonio. Instead, the Knicks kept coming. Bridges hit another 3. Landry Shamet finished a transition layup over Wembanyama. That basket gave the Knicks their first lead of the night with 3:39 left in the second quarter.

A first half that began with the Spurs in control ended with the Knicks ahead, 56-52. Towns carried the first half. Bridges protected the game in the third.

The Knicks led by as many as 11 in the period, but Towns picked up his fourth foul with 6:01 left. Wembanyama found life. The Spurs cut the deficit to four. Then Brunson went to the bench with 3:19 left in the third quarter, leaving Brown with a lineup of Bridges, Robinson, Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Deuce McBride.

No Brunson. No Towns. Hart in foul trouble. Wembanyama rolling. San Antonio back within range.

Bridges was unbothered.

He scored nine points on 4-for-4 shooting in the third quarter, kept possessions alive when the Knicks’ ballhandling grew shaky and punished the Spurs every time they lost him. The group Brown trusted in that stretch did more than hold on. It rebuilt the lead.

The Knicks entered the fourth quarter ahead 84-75, despite Wembanyama scoring 12 points in the third.

That stretch may have said as much about this Knicks team as anything else. Brunson has carried them often. Towns carried them early Friday. But the Knicks have reached this stage because their roster keeps producing answers from different places, often at the exact moment the game starts asking for someone new.

Bridges was that answer in Game 2.

The Spurs forced Brunson into a difficult night. They made the Knicks play through contact. They used fouls, pressure and size to turn long stretches into a grind. They got a better Fox early. They got a stronger Wembanyama push after halftime.

It still wasn’t enough.

The Knicks led by 14 in the fourth quarter before San Antonio scored 14 straight points to tie the game at 97 with 2:59 left. The Knicks looked stuck in mud. Towns, who carried so much of the night, did not touch the ball on five straight Knicks possessions during the late stall.

The finish turned wild from there.

Dylan Harper’s layup was ruled goaltending, cutting the Knicks’ lead to 102-101 with 1:24 left. After Bridges turned it over on the next possession, Harper found Wembanyama inside. Wembanyama made the layup through traffic, drew the foul and completed the three-point play to put the Spurs ahead 104-102 with under a minute left.

Brunson answered with a bucket to tie the game again with 39.3 seconds remaining. The Knicks then got a stop, capped by a huge defensive rebound by OG Anunoby, and Brown called timeout with 30.3 seconds left.

The Spurs had a foul to give and used it, leaving the Knicks with the ball and 24.3 seconds on the clock.

Brunson missed a mid-range jumper over Wembanyama, but stole the ball from him moments later. Wembanyama fouled him with 9.5 seconds left. Brunson made the first free throw and missed the second, giving the Spurs one last chance.

Wembanyama missed the go-ahead shot at the buzzer.

The series now shifts to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Monday. The Knicks will have a chance to move within one win of their first championship since 1973.