Knicks vs. Spurs score: New York takes 2-0 NBA Finals lead with thrilling victory

Final score: Knicks 105, Spurs 104

New York has found a way yet again. San Antonio came back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter and had a chance to win on the final possession, but Victor Wembanyama missed a jumper over Mitchell Robinson and the Knicks escaped with a one-point win. 

Wow, wow, wow. Madison Square Garden is going to be absolutely insane for Game 3 on Monday.

To recap: The Spurs started Game 2 strong and led by 12 points early in the second quarter. The Knicks dominated the second quarter, led by four at halftime and were up 97-83 halfway through the fourth. San Antonio went on a 21-5 run right when it needed to do so, but in the end, couldn't quite pull off the comeback.

Wembanyama missed the potential game-winner, but that was a good look. If he hadn't thrown the ball away and fouled Jalen Brunson on the previous possession, though, then San Antonio wouldn't have needed that shot to go in. That was a brutal turn of events for the Spurs.

Karl-Anthony Towns led New York in scoring with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. As great as he was, though, this was an extremely balanced effort offensively. Mikal Bridges scored 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, Brunson had 20 points on 7-for-25 shooting and OG Anunoby had 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting.

In the loss, Wembanyama scored a game-high 29 points on 11-for-21 shooting. He also had nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocks. He scored 22 of his points in the second half.

This was an intense, chaotic and extraordinarily physical game. Honestly, my head is still spinning. The Knicks are two wins away from an NBA title.

7.5 sec 4Q: Knicks 105, Spurs 104

The Spurs got a clutch stop when Jalen Brunson missed a jumper against Victor Wembanyama in isolation, but then, um, something went terribly wrong. 

Wembanyama got the rebound and threw an outlet pass to Stephon Castle. The problem was that Castle thought Wembanyama was going to push the ball himself, so he turned his head and ran down the floor. The ball bounced off Castle's back, and then Wembanyama fouled Brunson.

Brunson went to the line and split two free throws. The Spurs called timeout afterward. They have 7.5 seconds on the clock to go for the win.

0:30 4Q: Knicks 104, Spurs 104

After a one-legged fadeaway by Jalen Brunson with 39.3 seconds left in the fourth, the Spurs called timeout. They took their first lead of the second half with 57.3 seconds left when Victor Wembanyama made an and-one layup on the break.

After the timeout, Wembanyama missed a jumper in isolation. New York grabbed the rebound and called timeout.

This is a thriller. Buckle up.

2:37 4Q: Knicks 97, Spurs 97

San Antonio is now on a 14-0 run. The game is tied. Insanity.

One key adjustment that Tim Legler keeps emphasizing on the broadcast: The Spurs are guarding Jalen Brunson straight up instead of putting two on the ball and getting into rotation.

The bad news for San Antonio: OG Anunoby is heading to the line for three shots after Julian Champagnie fouled him on a 3-pointer. (Initially, no foul was called, but New York challenged the out-of-bounds call and the refs called a proximate foul on Champagnie.)

4:17 4Q: Knicks 97, Spurs 92

All of a sudden, San Antonio is on a 9-0 run. It forced a shot clock violation against New York, and De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama have come up with much-needed buckets. 

This has happened with Stephon Castle on the bench because of this play:

Crunch time is going to be fun.

6:45 4Q: Knicks 95, Spurs 83

The Spurs are outscoring the Knicks in the paint. They are getting to the free throw line far more often than New York is. They have held Jalen Brunson to 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting. It's not like everything is going wrong.

They are down 12 with less than seven minutes left, though, in large part because, um, shooting is important.

San Antonio is 16 for 24 from the free throw line. Knicks not named Mitchell Robinson, meanwhile, are 9 for 10 from the line.

The Spurs are shooting 9 for 26 (34.6%) from deep. New York is shooting 15 for 35 (42.9%). Big difference!

8:18 4Q: Knicks 90, Spurs 82

If San Antonio doesn't put together a run, it's going to drop the first two games of the NBA Finals at home. The Knicks haven't lost a game since April 23, but this is something else.

When Jalen Brunson joined Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench late in the third quarter, New York was up by only four points. It then won the non-Brunson, non-Towns minutes by eight points and had its biggest lead of the game (12) when the two of them checked back in early in the fourth. 

That was a crucial stretch, but it's not necessarily determinative. Victor Wembanyama is up to 22 points in the game now, and he also did this:

The Spurs are going to need to finish this game extremely strong if they're going to avoid falling down 2-0. 

End of third quarter: Knicks 84, Spurs 75

Mikal Bridges missed his first shot of the game. Since then, he's made eight straights shots, including four 3s. He's bailed the Knicks out by making shots at the end of possessions, and he's bailed them out as a playmaker with both Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson on the bench at the end of the third quarter.

This kind of bucket is devastating:

On New York's next possession, Bridges set up Mitchell Robinson for an alley-oop dunk:

In 29 minutes, Bridges has 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Hard to overstate how important he has been.

3:19 3Q: Knicks 76, Spurs 72

A potentially huge development: With 6:01 left in the third quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns picked up an offensive foul while fighting for position with Stephon Castle. It was his fourth foul of the game, and he immediately checked out. 

Towns has been the best player on the floor tonight. In 24 minutes, he has 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, plus nine boards, three assists, a steal and a block.

New York was up 72-62 at the time. A few minutes later, it's up by just four points. Let's see if the Spurs can continue to capitalize on Towns' absence.

Towns is plus-19 in this game. Josh Hart also has four fouls, by the way.

9:20 3Q: Knicks 64, Spurs 54

The second half has not started the way the Spurs wanted it to. After a Jalen Brunson pull-up 3 over Victor Wembanyama (!), New York has a double-digit lead.

The Knicks are outscoring San Antonio 8-2 in the third quarter. Julian Champagnie has made a couple of rough plays: an ill-advised drive against OG Anunoby and a silly foul against Brunson in the backcourt.

Also: Amazing block by Josh Hart in transition against Stephon Castle.

Halftime: Knicks 56, Spurs 52

Well, well, well. After outscoring San Antonio 31-18 in the second quarter, New York has a four-point lead heading into the third. What a turnaround. 

The Spurs led by as many as 12 points, but have lost all their momentum. They made four of their first eight 3-point attempts, but they've gone 2 for 10 from deep since then. In 18 first-half minutes, Victor Wembanyama has seven points on 2-for-4 shooting, five rebounds, one assist and two turnovers. Wemby has not looked particularly comfortable on offense.

Karl-Anthony Towns, meanwhile, has 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting, plus seven rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes. New York should feel great about how this game and this series are going.

2:07 2Q: Spurs 52, Knicks 51

With a bit more than five minutes left in the first half, Devin Vassell pressured Josh Hart in the backcourt and poked the ball away. They both went after the loose ball, and then Hart, from the floor, grabbed Vassell's ankle, tripping him. The refs didn't call a foul initially, but, after a replay review, Hart got hit with a flagrant-1. That's his third foul of the game.

Shortly thereafter, on a dead ball, Mitchell Robinson and Victor Wembanyama pushed each other around for a few seconds and Robinson got called for a technical foul. It was one of those where the ref probably only saw the last push.

It's not all bad news for the Knicks, though. After a picture-perfect offensive possession that led to a Mikal Bridges corner 3 and a driving layup by Landry Shamet, New York took its first lead of the game at 49-48.

Here's that pretty possession from NY:

Vassell answered with a four-point play, so the Spurs have a one-point lead with about two minutes to go until halftime. Fun game!

7:01 2Q: Spurs 42, Knicks 39

In about five minutes with Jalen Brunson on the bench, Karl-Anthony Towns has nine second-quarter points on 4-for-5 shooting, plus a nice assist to Mikal Bridges for a corner 3.

Here's KAT driving past Victor Wembanyama, dunking and screaming in celebration:

The Spurs have called timeout, and Brunson will be back on the court momentarily. For New York, winning that non-Brunson stint by six points is huge.

San Antonio has missed six of its first eight field goal attempts in the quarter. Also, Stephon Castle picked up a horrendous foul on a late-clock 3 by Jose Alvarado, ruining what would have been a perfect defensive possession. It was Castle's third foul, so he might spend the rest of this half on the sideline.

End of first quarter: Spurs 34, Knicks 25

After one, San Antonio has a nine-point lead. Defensively, the Spurs have turned up the ball pressure. They have blitzed Jalen Brunson a couple of times near halfcourt, too. And on the offensive end, they've been purposeful about touching the paint and either finishing strong or kicking out for open 3s.

And this time, San Antonio is making the 3s! After shooting terribly in Game 1, it is 4 for 8 from deep tonight (and 13 for 20 from the field).

De'Aaron Fox appears to be bouncing back exactly how the Spurs hoped he would. He has nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.

For New York, Brunson has eight points on 2-for-8 shooting. OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson have five points apiece. (San Antonio intentionally fouled Robinson three times and he went 3 for 6 from the free throw line.)

Oh, and you should see this Victor Wembanyama dunk:

2:56 1Q: Spurs 24, Knicks 19

Nine minutes into Game 2, San Antonio has a 12-4 edge in points in the paint and is shooting 6 for 9 in the paint. The Spurs have drawn a couple of shooting fouls in there, too.

At practice on Thursday, Mitch Johnson said San Antonio didn't put enough pressure on the rim and didn't play with enough force in the paint. That has not been an issue so far on Friday.

Here's the best rim attack the Spurs have had:

5:46 1Q: Spurs 17, Knicks 13

San Antonio had a rough night offensively in Game 1, but it has 17 points on 13 possessions early in Game 2. Nice start!

Here's how the Spurs started the game:

And here's Julian Champagnie getting the same lucky bounce that Deuce McBride got in the opener:

Also worth noting: Jalen Brunson (8 points) and OG Anunoby (5 points) have accounted for all of New York's scoring so far.