NBA Finals Begin June 3 in Oklahoma or San Antonio, Knicks Ready
The New York franchise waits for an opponent in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, the schedule is set, Game 1 tips off Wednesday June 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET, home court goes west.
In the Madison Square Garden locker room shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the staff told Brunson when Game 1 of the NBA Finals would tip off. There was no reaction. He nodded once and walked into the training room.
An assistant coach told reporters on his way past:
He has been thinking about this for two weeks already.
The Knicks are in the Finals for the first time since 1999, when they lost to the Spurs. That context is not going away before Friday night.
When Game 1 tips off
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is on Wednesday, June 3, at 8:30 p.m. ET, which lands at 2:30 a.m. CET in the early hours of Thursday in Europe. That is unusually early for an American summer slot. The NBA and ABC built it that way so the Eastern Conference Finals momentum carries straight in without too long a gap.
Home court advantage goes to the Western champion. OKC’s regular-season record was:
- 64 wins, 18 losses
- Spurs 62-20
- Knicks third in the East at 53-29
Who the Western opponent will be, OKC or Spurs
In the West, the series is 3-2 OKC, after Game 5 in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 33 points. Game 6 is Friday in San Antonio and it is a flat elimination game for the Spurs.
Victor Wembanyama went 4-15 from the field in Game 5, his lowest shooting efficiency of the entire playoff run.
Coach Mitch Johnson, who took the Spurs bench in February, said after the game:
Wembanyama has to use the wing more, because OKC is putting two on him every time he goes baseline.
What each opponent means for the Knicks
It matters to the Knicks who emerges. The Spurs are a younger team with a better home record (32-9 in the regular season). But OKC has Gilgeous-Alexander, the playoff MVP averaging 32.4 points per game.
Practices in New York are still being run by two coaches, head coach Tom Thibodeau and assistant Rick Brunson, the father of Jalen Brunson. The father coaches the son in offensive details. The son matches up with the best perimeter defenders in the league. That dynamic is something few reporters notice. In the Finals it will have to be a story.
Stats for the record books
The Knicks last played in the Finals in June 1999. The Patrick Ewing era lost to the Spurs 4-1. Jeff Van Gundy was the head coach, and Jalen Brunson was born seven days after the Finals ended.
Now Thibodeau, an assistant under Van Gundy at the time, takes the team back to the Finals. That is an anecdote no reporter is going to miss.
What comes next, what the tickets cost
The NBA on Tuesday released Garden ticket prices:
- cheapest seat for Game 1: $489
- top courtside: $11,500
Whoever comes out of the West gets Games 1 and 2 at home, with Games 3 and 4 at the Garden, Games 5 and 6 back west, and Game 7 at the Garden if needed. The format remains 2-2-1-1-1, standard since 2003.
Personally, if you ask me, the Knicks are underpriced in the books. They are 2.40 for the title, with OKC at 1.60 against them. The reason is Brunson’s experience under Western Conference pressure, which he already navigated against Houston in the first round. Plus Karl-Anthony Towns averaging 21 and 11 in this postseason.
If this Finals goes seven, Game 7 at the Garden is a constant that money cannot buy.
Game 6 in the West is Friday at 2 a.m. CET. If the Spurs win it, Game 7 is on Sunday in OKC. Either way, the Knicks get at least five days of rest before Game 1, a luxury rarely seen this deep into the playoffs.
