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The New York Knicks begin their quest for their first NBA title since 1973 Wednesday night as they travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals.

The matchup marks a historic Finals rematch between the two franchises, who previously met in the 1999 NBA Finals. That series, played during the NBA’s lockout-shortened season, saw the eighth-seeded Knicks make a memorable run through the Eastern Conference before it came to an end at the hands of the “Twin Towers” duo of Tim Duncan, David Robinson and the Spurs. Twenty-seven years later, the Knicks and Spurs will compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy again.

New York makes the Finals for the first time since that 1999 matchup. The Knicks enter the series as the hottest team in the NBA, winning 11 straight playoff games and 10 of them by double digits. Their last loss was on April 23 against the Atlanta Hawks, 109-108. New York’s average margin of victory during their win streak is 23.7 points per game, one of the highest postseason point differentials in NBA history.

San Antonio enters the Finals after a grueling seven-game series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, where the Spurs won Game 7 111-103 on Saturday night. It is San Antonio’s first trip to the Finals since 2014, and first without former Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich’s first NBA title was that 1999 matchup against the Knicks in his third season as a head coach. San Antonio hopes to replicate the outcome of that series, where they won in five games.

The Knicks and Spurs became familiar with one another throughout the 2025-26 season. New York defeated San Antonio in the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup Championship in Las Vegas, 124-113 on December 16, before the teams split their two regular-season meetings. The Spurs won two weeks later in San Antonio, 134-132 on New Year’s Eve, and New York won 114-89 on March 1 at Madison Square Garden.

New York hopes to end their 53-year title drought, one of the longest in professional sports. Riding the momentum coming in, the Knicks hope to steal Game 1 on the road, led by stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. San Antonio plans to defend home court with their young core, led by “The Alien,” 7-foot-4, 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama.

Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. EST at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. Coverage airs on television on ABC and on the radio on the MSG radio network.