NBA Finals: What to watch for in Game 5 as Knicks try to secure title
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) react in the 3rd quarter as New York Knicks take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, NY on May 19, 2026 Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams
SAN ANTONIO — It might be tempting for Knicks fans to enjoy a nice dinner out, maybe stop by a club and listen to some music, and then saunter over to the television at about 10:30 p.m., long after the 8:30 p.m. start time for Game 5 on Saturday night.
After all, the Knicks have made a habit of falling behind, frustrating their fan base, and then staging the most unlikely comebacks throughout this postseason run, one that has them in position to close out the series at Frost Bank Center.
But Knicks fans also know these opportunities don’t come along often; the team hadn’t made an NBA Finals appearance since 1999. So here’s a look ahead at what to watch as the Knicks seek to capture their first title in 53 years.
1. First things first
The Knicks have struggled with starts in this series. They trailed by eight, nine, 11 and 19 points at the end of the first quarter in the first four games of the series but somehow came back to take three of the first four games. They’re the first team in 46 tries to come back from a deficit of at least 20 points in the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game, and playoff teams are 5-733 when trailing by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter in the play-by-play era.
Two of those five? These Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals and then Wednesday night in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, when they erased a 29-point third-quarter deficit.
“We know they come out with a lot of energy,” Josh Hart said of the Spurs. “They’ve been doing it all playoffs. We’ve been very up and down with that a lot this year. So we’ve got to make sure we come in focused with a great attention to detail and taking things a possession at a time.
“We know if we do that and we play our style of basketball, we’re going to put ourselves in a good position to be successful. But we can’t keep getting into a hole and trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. We were fortunate to do that last game — actually, all three games, all three of our wins — but we’ve got to do a better job of starting games off.”
2. Lock down Wemby
The Knicks mostly have held Victor Wembanyama in check, including in the second half Wednesday, when he shot 3-for-14 after a 6-for-11 first half, opening the door for the comeback. Karl-Anthony Towns has been the most effective defender against Wembanyama, but Mitchell Robinson had his moments Wednesday with Towns in foul trouble, and OG Anunoby took turns, too.
3. Who wants the MVP?
If the Knicks can win the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the next question is, who gets the MVP award for the NBA Finals? Jalen Brunson would seem to be the choice, averaging 28.5 points per game and, more than that, coming up with a number of huge plays down the stretch of every win to help the Knicks escape. But Towns has outplayed Wembanyama for much of the series and Anunoby is averaging 23.5 points and had a lockdown defensive series even before his chase-down block of De’Aaron Fox in Game 4 that preceded his tip-in for the game-winner.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
