The Athletic has live coverage of Knicks vs. Spurs in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
SAN ANTONIO — OG Anunoby understands where to look.
First, he checks the shot’s release. Is it long? Short? Which part of the rim might it hit, and where might it ricochet from there? Then, as he stands in the corner of the court, his eyes pan to the man defending him. If he has a chance at the rebound, wherever his opponent stands will dictate if or how he chases after the miss.
“(I could be) cutting under or maybe going through the middle,” he said.
The hope for the New York Knicks is that he can find that space behind the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 star Victor Wembanyama.
When the NBA Finals tip off Wednesday night, the Knicks’ quest to pull Wembanyama away from the basket will begin. And the mission will not stop once a shot slides off the fingertips of any dope with the pretension to think he can score on the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Spurs will do all they can to take away the middle. So, New York must respond by trying to exploit the areas far in front of Wembanyama and sneakily behind him.
The first step is the rebounding.
Wembanyama will likely begin the series not guarding a big man but instead guarding Knicks wing Josh Hart.
The setup will, in some ways, be familiar to Hart, an inconsistent 3-point shooter. He’s looked into the eyes of centers before, only for them to roam into the paint instead of sticking to him. But Wembanyama, if spread all the way out, could clean each window of the Chrysler Building without his heels leaving the sidewalk. This is no regular chap. And experience against other 7-footers doesn’t translate to whatever he may try.
Wembanyama will win the areas he occupies. The Knicks will have to dominate the spots where he is not.
Wembanyama on Hart was the Spurs’ default look the last time these two teams played, when the Knicks steamrolled them in March. He guarded Hart for much of their other two “regular-season” matchups, which New York and San Antonio split — a close Knicks win in the NBA Cup final and a narrow Spurs victory two weeks later.
The matchup allowed Wembanayma to sag into his cushiest area of the court: the paint, where he scares away any reasonable actor who dares to approach the basket.
The Spurs are dedicated to keeping Wembanyama down low. If an opponent tries to pull him into an action, they will often switch him onto a different player to keep him down low. Hart just faced a similar strategy in the Eastern Conference finals, when the Cleveland Cavaliers placed their center, Jarrett Allen, on him. It mucked up the Knicks’ offense in Game 1. He responded by hitting five 3-pointers in Game 2.
Hart hitting his 3s is the obvious counter to Wembanyama sinking off him, but it’s not the only one. The Knicks made the Spurs pay when they tried this in March.
Hart sank only one long ball in that game, but he took six of them, enough that Wembanyama still felt the need to contest the shots. But those contests, preceded by a step as giant as Neil Armstrong’s, pull Wembanyama away from the paint. And the four Spurs around their center aren’t so huge.
That’s where Anunoby and the rest of the crew enter the equation.
In the third quarter of the last Knicks-Spurs matchup, Hart received a kickout pass from Mikal Bridges. He rose from the right wing for a 3 that clanked off the back of the hoop. However, San Antonio was still in trouble. Because Wembanyama was on Hart, the smaller Stephon Castle, a magical defensive guard, took Karl-Anthony Towns. Castle can battle with Towns, but the height difference (Castle is 6 foot 6; Towns is a 7-footer) leaves the Spurs vulnerable on the glass.
With four Spurs around him, Towns still ended up with the rebound.
The next quarter, the same scenario occurred. Hart fielded a bounce pass from Jalen Brunson at the top of the key. Wembanyama leaped to contest an immediate 3-pointer. The shot smacked off the front of the rim. Four Spurs and only one Knicks player were in the paint. This time it was another guard, Devin Vassell, tasked with blocking out Towns. He couldn’t do it. Towns corralled the rebound and hit a layup.
If Wembanyama defends Hart, this will be a major series for Towns, who will have either Castle, Vassell or Julian Champagnie guarding him. All are smaller. It will be a massive series for the crashers on the wings, Anunoby, Bridges and, if he gets time off the bench, Jordan Clarkson, who has morphed into a hyena on the offensive glass.
The Knicks will need to spread out Wembanyama — and not just with Hart. Adding shooting is one way to challenge him. If Hart isn’t hitting his 3s, head coach Mike Brown could splice another weapon into a unit that includes Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby and Towns.
In Game 1 against Cleveland, when Hart couldn’t hit a jumper and the offense went stale, Landry Shamet was the fifth guy in a closing lineup that spurred one of the biggest comebacks in playoff history. Miles “Deuce” McBride can spread the floor. Brunson’s pull-up 3-pointer presents a special wrinkle, one the Oklahoma City Thunder did not wield with two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
When Brunson dribbles around a screen, he will pop a deep ball as soon as daylight emerges. Gilgeous-Alexander, who just faced the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, isn’t as uninhibited in that sense. If Brunson chucks up 3 after 3 while running pick-and-rolls, it could force Wembanyama to adjust his coverage, which usually keeps him deep down low.
Spacing helps, especially in the mission to attack Wembanyama from the spots where he is not, from the outside and from the baseline.
That is why Mitchell Robinson is especially important in this series. Robinson, who is questionable for Game 1 after breaking his pinkie last week, isn’t just a defender and rebounder. He’s also a lob threat.
The same way that 3-point shooters pull Wembanyama to the perimeter, Robinson can drag him into the paint, so far down low that guys like Brunson or Bridges, who thrive in the short midrange, might garner enough space to get comfortable. If Wembanyama steps up on Brunson or Bridges or anyone else, they can hit Robinson for a lob, as long as he’s able to catch a basketball.
But snagging a ball out of the air is easier said than done with a broken pinkie. And making Wembanyama uncomfortable is not easy in any scenario. The planet’s undisputed greatest defender will wreak havoc in the middle of the floor, no matter what.
However, if the Knicks succeed in other areas, the Spurs have found a worthy foe.
