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Jaylen Brown and Giannis Antetokounmpo will play homecoming games a week apart in January.

The 2026-27 NBA schedule was released Thursday, setting the dates for the two former NBA Finals MVPs to return to face the teams that traded them this summer.

The schedules for opening night and Christmas already were unveiled this week, so those two games were among the most intriguing matchups not yet known. Brown, who was dealt from the Celtics to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in a stunning move, will play his first game back in Boston on Jan. 21.

Antetokounmpo was expected to be traded by Milwaukee this offseason — at one point speculation was that he might be swapped for Brown — and eventually was dealt to Miami. The Heat will travel to face the Bucks for the first time on Jan. 28.

Both of those games, which will be on Thursday nights, will stream on Prime Video.

Other details about the schedule:

From start to finish

The season will open Oct. 20 with a tripleheader, highlighted by LeBron James, Brown and the 76ers visiting the New York Knicks, who will receive their rings after winning the franchise’s first championship since 1973.

The regular season ends April 11. All-Star weekend is set for Feb. 19-21 in Phoenix.

Busy nights and nights off

Every team will play on Monday, Nov. 2, and there will then be no games the following night, which is election day in the U.S. The league is leaving that first Tuesday in November as an open day in hopes that fans and members of the NBA community will participate in the voting process.

No teams will play on Saturday, April 10, the second-to-last day of the regular season. Every team is then in action on the final day, with all the games matching Eastern Conference teams and the one interconference matchup scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The games involving West teams are set for 8:30 p.m.

Where to watch the games

There will be 90 regular-season games televised nationally on ABC or NBC, up from 79 last season. Every team will be scheduled to appear on national TV at least twice.

Throughout the season, games will stream on Peacock on Monday nights, be shown on NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, be televised by ESPN on Wednesdays, and stream on Prime Video on Fridays.

Saturday night primetime games on ABC begin Dec. 12 with the Knicks visiting the Heat, while NBC’s “Sunday Night Basketball” returns Jan. 24 with Oklahoma City visiting Golden State.

Prime Video will begin streaming Thursday night doubleheaders in January and some Saturday afternoon games starting Feb. 6 with Portland at Memphis, when Ja Morant returns to face the Grizzlies for the first time.

A lot of TV time

The NBA champion Knicks have the most appearances on ABC with six, while the Lakers, 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves all are featured on ESPN eight times.

The Knicks, Spurs, 76ers, Thunder, Warriors, Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets all get the maximum 11 appearances on NBC.

Back-to-backs and schedule breaks

Teams will average 14.2 sets of back-to-back games, the lowest total since the NBA Cup was added to the schedule, and no team will have more than 16. No team will play eight games in 12 nights, or 18 in 30.

There are 59 back-to-back games involving at least 750 miles of travel, down from 74 last season.

No team will be scheduled to play the night before games in the NBA Cup, or if they are in nationally televised games on Christmas Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Sunday nights on NBC or Saturday nights on ABC.

Milestone moments

If Kevin Durant averages 26 points, as he did in his first season in Houston, he could move past Kobe Bryant into fourth place on the career scoring list sometime around Jan. 16, when the Rockets would be at the midpoint of their schedule.

Indiana’s Rick Carlisle is set to become the eighth man to coach 2,000 NBA games on March 8.

In the first round of Tuesday night’s NBA draft, the Lakers made a trade with the New York Knicks, acquiring Cameron Carr, who the Knicks had selected with the 24th overall pick in the first round.

The Lakers then took guard Sergio De Larrea from Spain with the 25th pick and traded him to the NBA champion Knicks, along with cash considerations. The Lakers went to Spain recently to watch De Larrea work out.

Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka didn’t talk about the trade because the NBA had not made it official as of late Tuesday night. Carr was in New York at the draft, but he also didn’t speak with the media.

In need of athletic wing players on a team that could have up to nine free agents, the Lakers got one with 21-year-old Carr.

The 6-foot-5 Carr averaged 18.9 points per game at Baylor, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Carr shot 49.4% from the field and 37.4% from three-point range.

Most NBA draft boards had projected Carr to be selected between 15th and 21st in the first round. But he slipped to the Lakers, who like the idea that Carr is so athletic, is a three-and-D player with a 7-2 wingspan and has a 42.5-inch vertical.

He set a record at Baylor during his sophomore year with 642 points during the 2025-26 season. That ranked him fifth in program history, regardless of class.

Carr has been compared to Knicks wing player Mikal Bridges, a two-way player who just won the championship with New York.

The draft will continue Wednesday with the second round, but the Lakers don’t have a pick.

The Lakers needed to add a player such as Carr because they have so many roles to fill.

LeBron James is a free agent and is looking for a contract from the Lakers. Austin Reaves is expected to opt out of his deal that will pay him $14.8 million. The Lakers can pay Reaves the most, a five-year deal for $241 million. Marcus Smart, the best defender on the Lakers, has a player option for $5.3 million. People around the NBA expect him to opt out and sign a deal for more money. Rui Hachimura is an unrestricted free agent and will have many teams after him. Luke Kennard is a free agent and will have a few teams after him because of his three-point shooting.

So, essentially, the Lakers need players on their roster and Carr is a player that the Lakers felt fell to them when so many draft boards had him going earlier.

He’s not NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson.

He’s not OG Anunoby, whose last-second tip-in will forever be etched into the minds of New York sports fans.

He’s not Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges or any of the other players that helped the Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals for the organization’s first championship in 53 years.

But, as Tyler Kolek found himself having to clarify on Thursday, “I swear I’m on the team bro.”

That was what the backup point guard wrote on X, followed by three laughing-until-crying emojis, soon after he was stopped by two police officers who apparently did not recognize him as a Knicks player during the team’s championship parade in Lower Manhattan.

A video that has gone viral on social media shows Kolek skipping along the parade route next to a barrier meant to keep fans off that part of the street, using one hand to hold a beer and the other to slap hands with fans.

At one point, an officer stepped in front of Kolek to block his path while another gently grabbed him by the shoulders and motioned for the confused player to go back in the direction from which he came.

An unidentified man who had been accompanying Kolek quickly stepped in, and then officers allowed him to pass.

To be fair to the officers, Kolek — wearing a Knicks hat, Knicks T-shirt and gym shorts — looked like he could have been one of the estimated 2 million fans attending the parade.

And he’s not the most recognizable player on the team. Kolek has made one start in 103 game appearances during his two years with the Knicks, averaging almost 10 minutes a game. He did not make it into an NBA Finals game but played in eight postseason games this year, averaging 3.5 points and 6.6 minutes a game.

It doesn’t appear that the very brief run-in with the law dampened Kolek’s mood, based on the parade videos he posted on his Instagram. One showed his view of the massive crowds on either side of the street; another showed him throwing confetti while singing along to “New York, New York;” and another showed him standing outside the railing on a moving float while dancing and cheering.

And, yes, one showed the incident with parade security, along with the caption “I hoop bro I swear” and four laughing-until-crying emojis.

The New York Knicks celebrated their first NBA title in 53 years with a frenzied ticker-tape parade through Manhattan. The Knicks, along with finals MVP Jalen Brunson were awarded keys to the city by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in front of thousands of fans.

Spike Lee couldn’t contain himself.

“We did it!” the legendary filmmaker shouted during an ESPN interview after the New York Knicks sealed their first NBA championship since 1973 on Saturday night. “We did it! We did it! We did it!”

If any fan can be excused for using “we” when speaking of their favorite sports team, it would probably be Lee.

The “Do the Right Thing” star, director and screenwriter was 13 when he witnessed the Knicks defeat the Lakers in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. And he was on hand in San Antonio at age 69 when the Knicks finished off the Spurs with a title-clinching 94-90 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

In between, Lee has become the Knicks’ most famous and visible fan. He has been a season-ticket holder since 1985, the rookie season of Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, and has been a courtside fixture for decades. In 2024, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s superfan gallery.

During a 2020 appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” Lee laughed when he was informed that his Knicks seats cost around $300,000 a year and that he had spent roughly $10 million on tickets over the years.

“I look stupid now,” he joked.

So, yeah, he’s considered by many to be an honorary member of the Knicks — and as such, he’s also considered by many to be more than worthy of an NBA championship ring. The idea has taken off on social media, with several celebrities offering their support.

“Give @officialspikelee a CHAMPIONSHIP RING DAMN IT!!!!!!!!” comedian and actor Kevin Hart wrote Sunday on Instagram.

Legendary sports broadcaster Dick Vitale wrote Monday on X: “I agree with Kevin Hart – yes the LOYALTY of SPIKE LEE to the @nyknicks should be recognized & rewarded- Spike is truly a dedicated & genuine LOYAL Knicks fan .YES I agree with Kevin – SPIKE should get a Championship ring !”

“First Take” host and fellow die-hard Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith reposted on X a graphic calling for Lee to receive a ring for his “decades of loyalty.”

Spike Lee celebrates with a crowd of New York Knicks fans after Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday in San Antonio.

(Darren Abate / Ap Photo/darren Abate)

“I completely support this for Spike Lee,” Smith wrote. “No Knicks’ fan deserves this more than him.”

The Times reached out to a representative for Lee and the Knicks for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Lee is likely less concerned with a championship ring for himself and more concerned with his beloved team earning another one in 2027.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Lee asked during an on-court interview with WABC-TV in New York immediately following Saturday’s victory, before shouting the answer to his own question: “Back to back!”

Footage shows a World Cup shuttle bus set into flames amid chaotic celebrations following the New York Knicks historic NBA Finals victory.

NEW YORK — It was bedlam on Broadway as the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday night, with exuberant celebrations marred by mayhem and violence, including a shooting in Times Square.

Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Soon after, tens of thousands of people filled the streets and the rowdiest among them were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride on a moving fire truck.

Around 2 a.m., a 17-year-old was shot near 42nd Street and Broadway, police said. Bystander video captured the sound of at least seven shots and showed people crouching and running for cover. Police took the victim to the hospital because an ambulance could not get through the crowds, police said. A gun was recovered and three people were taken into custody.

Four people were stabbed or slashed, and one of the school buses, which was being used for World Cup transportation, was set on fire and engulfed in flames, police said. Other buses and five police cars were also damaged, police said.

In all, 63 people were arrested, with charges including assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Knicks owner James Dolan, speaking in San Antonio after the game, urged fans to stay calm.

“We need to tell everybody in New York that we know that they’re celebrating, we want them to have a great time,” said Dolan, interrupting guard Josh Hart’s news conference. “Please be safe. Don’t get hurt; don’t hurt anybody.”

The city will officially celebrate the Knicks on Thursday with a parade and City Hall ceremony.

As the clock ticked to the final buzzer on Saturday night, anxiety that had dominated the game’s first three quarters gave way to euphoria. An orange-and-blue-tinted fever dream that started with the Knicks’ first playoff game two months ago ended in the third title in their 80-year history.

Fireworks boomed over Brooklyn and Central Park. Fans flocked to Times Square and ran through the streets. Outside the Garden, they sang the team’s anthem: “Go New York, Go New York, Go!”

Police officers and ambulance workers shouted, “Let’s go Knicks!” over loudspeakers in Brooklyn. Strangers shook hands and hugged. In the Lincoln Tunnel, where people were riding buses back from the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, drivers honked their horns in celebration.

“I’m so overwhelmed. I’m so happy,” said Mathieu Ogno of Long Island, who fought back tears as he soaked in the victory at a team-sanctioned watch party at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Ogno wore the jersey of Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, whose 45 points propelled his team to victory and him to the NBA Finals MVP. Brunson’s gritty determination and chip-on-his-shoulder style have made him a fan favorite, embodying New York’s working-class ethos.

The Knicks’ championship — 19,392 days since their last — capped an extraordinary postseason for a franchise that hadn’t been to the NBA Finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999. Since April 23, the team has won 15 of 16 games, with its lone loss coming Monday in Game 3.

Their last title, in 1973, was also won on the road in a Game 5. Their first, in 1970, was won at home in a Game 7 thriller. Neither was celebrated with a parade.

“I’m happy to see my Knicks finally make it over the hump,” said Shawn Muoneke, 26. “I’ve seen them knock on the door. They were knocking on the door the past few years. But they finally made it over the hump, and I’m so happy to see it and I’m so happy I’m in the city to experience it.”

Muoneke, born a year after the Knicks’ last trip to the NBA Finals, started rooting for them when he was 10. He drove from Maryland to be in the city for Game 5 at the team’s Central Park watch party.

“I saw the ups, the downs and I watched the team come back up, and I was so happy to see them finally reach the highest echelon of stardom as a team,” Muoneke said.

After the Knicks’ win, he said, the vibes in the city “are the highest they’ve ever been.”

President Trump, a longtime Knicks fan who attended Game 3 at the Garden with Dolan, congratulated the team in a post on social media.

“What a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four — Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,” Trump wrote.

With Brunson’s clutch performance, he added, “a superstar was born.”

After several dozen arrests throughout the playoffs and violence after Games 3 and 4 in New York that left officers injured and a teen in a coma, police girded for unrest as Saturday turned to Sunday.

“As we celebrate, be responsible, look out for one another, stay safe, be smart, and make this a night that reflects the very best of our city,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media. “Let’s go Knicks.”

Sisak and Lum write for the Associated Press. AP writer Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed to this report.

SAN ANTONIO — Jalen Brunson and the Comeback Knicks did it again. And now they’re the Champion Knicks.

For the first time in 53 years, New York rules the NBA. Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night.

The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories. The deficit was 16 on Saturday night. Brunson and the Knicks were never fazed.

“I have no words,” Brunson said during the on-court celebration. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”

New York guard Jalen Brunson drives in front of San Antonio center Luke Kornet during the second half of the Knicks’ 94-90 win Saturday.

(Darren Abate / Associated Press)

Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — the other two parts of the “Nova Knicks” trio that also includes Brunson, three players who were NCAA champions at Villanova and teamed up in New York to try to do the same — combined to score 27 points. Bridges had 14, Hart 13.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” Brunson said. “I’m in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it.”

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, right, hugs forward Og Anunoby after defeating the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA title on Saturday.

(Darren Abate / Associated Press)

Dylan Harper scored 25 for the Spurs, who got 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots from Victor Wembanyama.

The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning them all on the road. It didn’t feel like the road, though — not with thousands of New York faithful having made the trip to Texas to see a moment 53 years in the making.

New York got to the brink of this title by rallying from 29 points down in Game 4 to win 107-106 on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left on Wednesday night. It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and the biggest comeback in any game this season, regular season or playoffs.

By comparison, then, a 16-point rally in this one seemed easy.

The game followed the same script in the opening minutes as all the others in the series, with the Spurs taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then frittering most of it away in the second quarter.

The Spurs became the first team in the play-by-play era, which started in the 1996-97 season, to lead five finals games by 10 points or more in first quarters.

The Knicks simply could not make a shot, missing on 16 of their first 18 tries and each of their first 11 two-point attempts. There even was a point in the second quarter when Wembanyama had more blocked shots (five) than the Knicks had made shots (four). San Antonio’s lead was as many as 10 in the first quarter, as many as 16 in the second.

Of course, none of it mattered much. As always, the Knicks came back.

New York Knicks fans react in New York after the team’s title-clinching win over the Spurs on Saturday night.

(Heather Khalifa / Associated Press)

A 22-9 run in the second quarter got New York within three, before Devin Vassell scored just before the halftime buzzer to give San Antonio a 42-37 edge at the break.

And that capped an opening 24 minutes of either offensive ineptitude or defensive prowess, depending on perspective. The 79 combined points in the first half were the lowest in a finals game since Game 7 of Lakers-Celtics in 2010, and the combined 31.8% field goals shooting by the Knicks and Spurs was the lowest in the first half of a finals game in the play-by-play era.

Brunson won NCAA crowns twice with Villanova — both in Texas, the 2016 one in Houston and the 2018 one in San Antonio, just a few miles away from the arena that the Spurs call home.

A Texas three-step of titles, and this one was surely the sweetest of all.

The stunning victory by the New York Knickerbockers over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday gave ABC the most-watched NBA Finals Game 4 since 1998, the year of Michael Jordan’s last championship with the Chicago Bulls.

Nielsen data showed an average of 20.9 million viewers watched the Knicks overcome a 29-point halftime deficit to top Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 107-106 at Madison Square Garden, the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history. The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the series and will play Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio, attempting to win their first NBA championship in 53 years.

Through the first four games, the NBA Finals are averaging 19.6 million viewers, also the highest since the Bulls-Utah Jazz faced off on NBC in 1998. The series is on track to become the most-watched since the NBA Finals moved to ABC and ESPN in 2002.

“The match-up is ideal from a media business standpoint, featuring the nation’s largest media market with New York, teams with robust followings and multiple all-stars, especially Wemby, the compelling new face of the NBA,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports Entertainment & Media, Inc.

The Knicks-Spurs series is up 116% over the first four games of last year’s match-up between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. But the most encouraging numbers for ABC and ESPN is the growth among younger viewers, who have become harder to reach in the age of social media and streaming. Ratings among teens aged 12 to 17 are up 138% while the 18 to 24 age group is up 147%.

ABC is also seeing spikes in viewing among women, up 121%, and the Latino audience due to its large populations in the markets of New York and San Antonio, according to Flora Kelly, ESPN’s senior vice president for audience research.

Viewing in the New York market alone is accounting for 18% of the national audience.

Este Haim, Taylor Swift, and Mariska Hargitay react during the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2026.

(Al Bello / Getty Images)

In addition to delivering highly competitive games, the NBA Finals also had President Trump and pop superstar Taylor Swift in attendance at Madison Square Garden. Both are capable of turning a live TV event into a full-blown spectacle.

“What we’re seeing is that this Spurs-Knicks series is a tremendous cultural moment,” Kelly said.

Trump attended Game 3, making him the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals. While Trump was a fixture at Knicks games before he entered the national political scene, some commentators, such as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, believed the president’s insistence on attending Monday’s contest became a distraction that disrupted the home team’s momentum. (The Knicks lost the game 115-111, ending the team’s streak of 13 consecutive wins).

Swift showed up for Game 4, joining “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay and the other celebrities that regularly show up court side at Madison Square Garden.

NBA legend Charles Barkley branded the San Antonio Spurs “the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilisation” after the New York Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

The Spurs led by 29 points as they aimed to level the best-of-seven series in New York before hosting game five, but the Knicks fought back to win 107-106.

London-born OG Anunoby claimed a tip-in basket with 1.2 seconds left to clinch victory, much to the delight of a star-studded crowd at Madison Square Garden, which included Taylor Swift and Timothee Chalamet.

It gave the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the series and put them within one win of their first championship since 1973.

The previous biggest comeback in the NBA Finals was 24 points, by the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.

San Antonio went 29 points up in the second quarter and their 27-point lead at half-time (76-49) was the largest for a road team in Finals history, but they then scored just 30 points in the second half.

“That was some of the most mismanaged, stupid basketball,” said ESPN analyst and former NBA most valuable player Barkley.

“When you blow a 29-point lead, the other team has to help, and the San Antonio Spurs helped the New York Knicks win this game.”

Victor Wembanyama scored a team-high 24 points for San Antonio and claimed 13 rebounds.

“I can’t really explain it right now,” said the NBA’s defensive player of the year.

“I don’t know. I think it’s just execution, greediness of some sort. We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”

The Knicks still trailed 90-75 heading into the fourth quarter but Jalen Brunson put them in front for the first time at 105-104 with 82 seconds remaining.

Anunoby then made a block with 11.1 seconds left, to stop the Spurs leading 108-105, before tipping in the game-clinching score after Brunson’s three-point attempt struck the rim.

“One word that caps that all is just ‘belief’,” Brunson told ESPN. “It was chipping away, one possession at a time. It wasn’t going to be one play to get us back.”

Game five is in San Antonio on Saturday (01:30 BST, Sunday).

Jalen Brunson drilled the go-ahead free throw as the New York Knicks held off a furious San Antonio rally to beat the Spurs 105-104 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

San Antonio player Victor Wembanyama had a crucial late turnover and missed a potential game-winner with two seconds remaining on Friday, leaving the Spurs in need of an unprecedented comeback when the best-of-seven series shifts to New York for games three and four.

No team has lifted the trophy after dropping the first two games of the Finals at home.

Michael Jordan’s 1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets are the only other teams to win the first two games of the championship series on the road, and both went on to win titles.

The Knicks won their 13th straight game of the playoffs – the second-longest streak in postseason history – and will have a chance to close out their first title since 1973 in front of home fans at Madison Square Garden. United States President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend on Monday.

They had to withstand a scintillating fourth-quarter surge from the Spurs, who erased a 14-point deficit with a 14-0 scoring run.

Wembanyama shook off a slow start to score 22 of his 29 points in the second half, his three-point play with 57.3 seconds remaining giving the Spurs their first lead since the second quarter at 104-102.

It was tied at 104-104 with 9.5 seconds left when Wembanyama grabbed the rebound of a Brunson miss but turned it over with a bad pass into the back of teammate Stephon Castle.

Brunson scooped up the ball and was fouled, then made the first of two free throws to put the Knicks back in front.

San Antonio had one last chance, coming out of a time-out with 7.5 seconds left. They got the ball to their superstar, but his jump shot clanged off the rim.

“I threw that one away,” 22-year-old Wembanyama said. “I messed up. We didn’t play great as a team. We needed to win that game.”

Karl-Anthony Towns, who led the Knicks with 21 points and 13 rebounds, admitted he was praying when Wembanyama put the Spurs’ final attempt.

“A great player got a great shot, and it just didn’t go in,” Towns said.

‘What a ballgame’

For the second straight game, Towns delivered a stellar defensive performance that pushed Wembanyama out of his comfort zone.

“He’s a once-in-a-generation player,” Towns said. “You got to make it difficult on him. So, just utilising my experience, utilising my size, my skill, and just trying to make it difficult for him.”

Brunson and Mikal Bridges scored 20 points each, OG Anunoby added 17, and Landry Shamet scored 13 off the bench for the Knicks.

Wembanyama added nine rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals, and De’Aaron Fox scored 20 points for the Spurs.

Desperate not to head back to New York in a 2-0 hole, the Spurs attacked the paint early.

Wembanyama thrilled Spurs fans at the Frost Bank Center – where Knicks supporters were a vocal presence – with his first basket of the night, a left-handed dunk that gave the Spurs a 15-10 lead.

Fox’s alley-oop layup off a feed from Devin Vassell pushed the lead to 10 with less than two minutes to go in the first.

The Spurs pushed their lead to 12 before the Knicks responded in a tense second quarter, taking the lead for the first time, 49-48, on Landry Shamet’s layup with 3:39 left in the first half.

San Antonio regained the lead, but Towns’s three-pointer over Wembanyama gave the Knicks a 56-52 halftime advantage that they pushed to as many as 12 before taking an 84-75 lead into the fourth quarter.

“What a ballgame,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “It’s a fantastic ballgame. They made a run. We made a run. They made a run. We made a run.

“We could have folded a few times, but our guys just kept fighting … No matter what run they went on, no matter what time of the game, our guys just kept uplifting one another.”

SAN ANTONIO — Go crazy, New York. Or, perhaps more accurately, crazier.

The red-hot Knicks are going home, two wins away from an NBA championship that the capital of the world has been waiting to see for generations.

Jalen Brunson hit a go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left after a turnover by Victor Wembanyama moments earlier, then Wembanyama missed a jumper at the end of New York’s 105-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

“What a ballgame,” Knicks coach Mike Brown marveled.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Brunson and Mikal Bridges each scored 20 for the Knicks. They have won 13 straight, the second-longest streak by any team in NBA playoff history.

“New York City showed up,” Towns said. “The fans showed up. The energy showed up. And we found a way to get it done.”

The Knicks are just the third team to win the first two games of a finals on the road, joining Michael Jordan and the 1993 Chicago Bulls, and Hakeem Olajuwon and the 1995 Houston Rockets.

Both of those teams won championships, the Bulls needing six games to oust the Phoenix Suns, the Rockets going home after winning those first two games in Orlando and sweeping the Magic. The Knicks, seeking their first championship since 1973, are in position to join them.

Wembanyama, after a very quiet first half, scored 29. De’Aaron Fox had 20 for San Antonio.

“We can’t change the past,” Wembanyama said, “We’re already thinking about Game 3.”

The series shifts to New York. Game 3 is at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet, left, celebrates with guard Mikal Bridges after making a three-pointer in the second half against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Friday.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

President Donald Trump — a native New Yorker — plans on attending Monday. And ticket prices on the secondary market, for the worst seats at MSG, were approaching $9,000 apiece on Friday night, with Knicks fans evidently willing to pay tippy-top dollar just to be in the building as the team nears what would be its first championship in 53 years.

The Spurs were down 14 midway through the fourth and came all the way back — scoring the next 14 points to tie the game. Wembanyama’s three-point play with 57 seconds left gave the Spurs their first lead in nearly two full quarters, putting San Antonio up 104-102.

“We showed tremendous desperation, urgency and competitive response,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Hopefully we can try to bottle that up … and try to play to that same level.”

But the Knicks got the last three, Brunson — the hero of Game 1 for the Knicks — getting them all.

Brunson scored on the next possession, just his seventh basket in 24 shots on the night, and the game was tied. Wembanyama missed a long jumper, OG Anunoby got the rebound for New York with 30 seconds left, the Knicks called time and the stage was set.

The Spurs got a stop, but Wembanyama threw the ball away. Brunson got fouled, the Knicks had the lead back and before long Spurs fans were filing out of the arena — possibly for the final time this season.

The Spurs called time with 7.5 seconds remaining. Fox took the inbound pass, then set up Wembanyama for a jumper that would have won it. The shot bounced off the rim, and it was over.

“We had to get a stop. We hadn’t gotten a stop all quarter,” Towns said.

They got their stop. Next stop: New York, where the hottest team in basketball knows an NBA title is just two wins away.

Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.