The 2026 Finals are a rematch of the NBA Cup championship between San Antonio and New York.
SAN ANTONIO — The matchup is set for the final series of the 2025-2026 NBA season as another champion prepares to be crowned: The Knicks, looking for their third title and first since 1973, or the Spurs, who hope to kick-start a new dynasty with their sixth championship.
It won’t be their first time meeting this season when Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off Wednesday at Frost Bank Center. San Antonio and New York played three times in the regular season, including in an NBA Cup bout that didn’t count towards either’s wins total (62 and 53, respectively).
Regardless, the Spurs went 1-2 against their Finals opponent this year.
The lone win came in a New Year’s Eve classic that saw Julian Champagnie going 11-of-17 from downtown—a Spurs franchise record for 3s in a game that secured a 134-132 win. He finished with a career-high 36 points, and that’s the version of Champagnie the Silver & Black will hope shows up in the Finals. In the two other matchups against New York, the 24-year-old managed a total of just six points while going 2-of-7 from the 3-point line.
“I think that team is very physical and competitive, and if you don’t match that, along with sharp execution, they can systematically wear you down at times,” head coach Mitch Johnson said after the win.
The NBA Cup Championship on Dec. 16 was the team’s first time playing each other this season, and ended up being a 124-113 New York win.
Wembanyama came off the bench as he worked his way back from a calf strain, finishing with 18 points. Dylan Harper had 21 in that game, making him the lone Spur with 20-pus points in a game that was close until New York dominated the fourth frame, 35-19.
“I guess it is the best practice for important games, because our focus is already on the playoffs,” Wemby said after the December game. “The playoffs are going to be the biggest time of year. I guess it is good we got this experience today.”
A Knicks home victory in the teams’ last head-to-head of the regular season on March 1 snapped an 11-game Spurs win streak that matched their longest of the year. And the loss wasn’t particularly close, as New York held San Antonio to a season-low 89 points as the Spurs burst out to a 19-7 lead with 4:05 remaining in the first.
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, but the Knicks were plus-24 on points off 3-pointers, which proved to be the difference. The Spurs hit just 9 of 34 shots from downtown in that game. Again, Johnson lauded the Knick’s physicality as well as their on-court chemistry.
“When you play against a team like this, in a competitive, physical game as it was, in the hostile environment that it is, the first 10 minutes, roughly, couldn’t have gone almost any better for us,” Johnson said after. “We have to understand the delicacy of every possession, every detail.”
Despite coming off the bench for one of the three games, Wembanyama averaged 24.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game against the Knicks this season. De’Aaron Fox contributed 16.3 points per game in those matchups, along with 7.3 assists.
Jalen Brunson, the Knicks leader and 2026 All-Star, was the most consistently successful player on the floor across the regular-season series, scoring 25, 29 and 24 points, respectively. He’s averaging 26.9 points during the playoffs.
On that note: New York has been a force during the postseason, going 12-2 and winning games by an average margin of 22.8 points, including four games of 40-plus points. While the Spurs and Thunder battled to a seven-game Western Conference Finals result, the Knicks swept their way through the second and third rounds; by the time the Finals begin, they will have rested for nine days.