By Rory Carroll
June 2 (Reuters) – The New York Knicks will try to deliver the city its first NBA title since 1973 when they face a Spurs team looking to launch a new dynasty behind Victor Wembanyama in a highly anticipated Finals match-up beginning on Wednesday in San Antonio.
Led by versatile point guard Jalen Brunson, the Knicks have powered their way to their first Finals appearance since 1999, winning 11 straight games and posting a record point differential of plus-271 through 14 playoff contests.
The run has electrified long-suffering Knicks fans, including courtside regulars Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Timothee Chalamet, who have watched New York move within four wins of ending one of the NBA’s longest championship droughts.
There is reason for optimism.
The Knicks won two of their three meetings with the Spurs this season including a 114-89 rout on March 1 at Madison Square Garden, where they made 17 three-pointers and forced 22 turnovers to snap San Antonio’s 11-game winning streak.
New York’s biggest challenge will be slowing the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, whose blend of rim protection, shooting range and ball handling has made him one of the league’s most difficult match-ups.
The Knicks will lean on Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson to make life difficult for the Frenchman, while also trying to keep Towns out of foul trouble.
San Antonio will need more than Wembanyama to counter New York’s size and physicality.
The Spurs are at a size disadvantage on the perimeter, but De’Aaron Fox’s speed gives them a way to pressure the Knicks’ defense and create openings in transition and the halfcourt.
The Spurs will also hope Fox is fully recovered from the ankle injury that kept him out of the first two games of the Western Conference Finals.
San Antonio will need his burst and playmaking against a Knicks team who have overwhelmed opponents with depth and force.
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
While the Knicks, who won titles in 1970 and 1973, are desperate to end a 53-year wait, the Spurs have reached the Finals ahead of schedule behind one of the league’s most promising young cores.
Wembanyama, 22, is joined by 21-year-old guard Stephon Castle and 25-year-old Devin Vassell, giving San Antonio the foundation of a team that could contend for years.
The series may ultimately hinge on Wembanyama, who won Western Conference Finals MVP after dethroning the Oklahoma City Thunder in a Game Seven on the road.
Known as “Wemby,” he has already emerged as a potentially transformational player – a Defensive Player of the Year capable of blocking shots at one end and pulling up from near midcourt or Euro stepping to the rim at the other.
The Spurs will also lean on the memory of beating the Knicks 4-1 in the 1999 Finals to capture the first of the franchise’s five championships.
Whatever the outcome, the NBA will crown a different champion for the eighth straight season, extending the longest such streak in league history.
Game One of the best-of-seven Finals tips off at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time (0030 GMT) on Wednesday at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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