The Knicks offense started the game in shambles.
Then Jalen Brunson unshambled it.
And they never looked back.
The surging Spurs had won 11 straight, looking like an elite team with title aspirations.
And, since blowing a double-digit lead to the Spurs on New Year’s Eve, the Knicks had mostly dragged their feet.
But Sunday’s performance — a 114-89 win over the Spurs at Madison Square Garden — mirrored their showing in the NBA Cup Final against San Antonio.
This was a statement that they can still compete with — and take command of — the NBA’s best.
Before and during that Cup triumph, the Knicks looked like bona fide contenders.
But too often since that game, the Knicks were concerningly missing that identity — particularly against other supposed contenders.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after hitting a 3-pointer during a win over the Spurs at MSG on March 1, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Sunday, though, it reemerged.
Brunson, after missing his first three shots from the field, scored the last 11 Knicks points to end the first quarter and they somehow carried a one-point lead into the second quarter.
Five of those points came on a five-point possession, when Brunson drew a flagrant foul on Dylan Harper while taking a 3-pointer — he hit two of three free throws, then after the Knicks kept possession, had an and-one, on Harper again.
Knicks wing Mikal Bridges (25) dunks over the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama (1) on March 1, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Then the Knicks opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run — part of 19-0 and 26-2 runs spanning back to the first quarter — to take a 12-point lead before the Spurs called timeout.
That 19-0 run was the longest unanswered run allowed by the Spurs this season.
The Knicks shot 52.2 percent from the field during a red-hot second quarter and entered halftime up 10.
Their lead never went below eight points the rest of the way.
“We started taking the right shots,” coach Mike Brown said. “I told our guys ‘let that thing fly.’ Once we started letting it fly, good things started to happen.”
Mikal Bridges in the third quarter picked up where Brunson, who finished with 24 points, left off in the first half.
He delivered one of his most efficient shooting performances of the year, recording a team-high 25 points.
He went 10-for-17 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range, 14 of those points came in the third quarter as the Knicks largely traded baskets with the Spurs, maintaining their lead.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can score, so sometimes the touches might be limited,” Bridges said. “Just control what I can control, and that’s bringing energy on both ends and trying to make the right read and be aggressive.”
He also had five steals — he picked off Harper’s pass and dunked on the other end midway through the fourth quarter to increase the Knicks lead to 18 points.
Then Bridges picked off De’Aaron Fox’s pass later in the quarter and set up Landry Shamet for a dunk, increasing the lead to 19 points and providing an exclamation point.
“Sometimes, the ball has energy to it,” Josh Hart said of Bridges. “He was able to knock down some of those shots, get involved and then defensively he was able to play the passing lanes, you saw that today. It’s great to really get him going.”
On the other end, it was one of the best defensive showings of the season for the Knicks.
The 89 points were their lowest of the season for the Spurs — six points fewer than their previous low.
Victor Wembanyama, who has delivered some of the best games of his career against the Knicks, finished with 25 points.
But the Knicks didn’t let him wreck the game, as he so often does.
They had Karl-Anthony Towns match up with him on that end to start the game, then amid a big second quarter for Wembanyama, pivoted to having OG Anunoby guard him.
Towns and Anunoby mixed and matched on Wembanyama in the second half.
The Knicks also forced Wembanyama into seven turnovers.
Karl-Anthony Towns reacts after scoring during the Knicks’ win over the Spurs on March 1, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
He only had two points in the fourth quarter.
As a whole, the Knicks held the Spurs to 41.6 percent shooting from the field and 26.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.
“That’s a really good team,” Brown said. “They missed some shots, but I think our weakside defense was really good. For them to shoot 26, 27 percent from 3, our activity on the weakside was really good.”
Towns only took nine shots and finished with 12 points, but he recorded yet another double-double, adding 14 rebounds — five on the offensive glass.
The dynamic young Spurs backcourt of Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell — along with the veteran Fox — have the ability to disrupt opposing ball handlers.
But they hardly bothered Knicks guards Sunday.
Sunday’s Knicks looked like the NBA Cup Knicks.
It was a needed reminder of what this team’s ceiling is when they’re firing on all cylinders.
Larry David was sitting courtside.
He was treated to a pretty, pretty good win.
