Knicks Return to NBA Finals as Spurs Open Series as Favorites

The NBA season arrives at its final stage on Wednesday night with a matchup few expected at the start of the year but one that offers compelling storylines for the league's future and its past.

The San Antonio Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama and coming off a 62-win regular season, host the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Sportsbooks have installed San Antonio as a modest favorite, pricing the Knicks at roughly +170 to win the championship despite New York's resurgence through the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The series brings together two franchises separated by geography and history but connected by a shared moment six months ago. In December, the Knicks defeated the Spurs in the NBA Cup final, marking the first time participants in the league's in-season tournament championship have later met in the NBA Finals.

That earlier contest offered only a partial preview of what is to come.

Wembanyama, now the centerpiece of San Antonio's title pursuit, played under significant minute restrictions at the time and had not yet assumed the workload that would define the Spurs' second half. The Finals version of San Antonio is a different team—deeper, more experienced and operating without the developmental limitations that shaped portions of its regular season.

Oddsmakers still see a competitive matchup.

San Antonio enters Game 1 as a 4.5-point favorite, reflecting respect for both its regular-season dominance and home-court advantage. The Spurs finished 62-20, nine games ahead of the Knicks, whose 53-29 record placed them third in the Eastern Conference standings before a postseason run that elevated expectations across the league.

Historical betting trends offer a reminder that underdogs have prevailed before, though rarely. According to betting data compiled by Covers, only a handful of champions in the modern era have overcome longer pre-series odds than those currently assigned to New York, including the 2019 Toronto Raptors, the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

For New York, however, the larger story may be the end of an absence that lasted nearly three decades.

The Knicks are appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, when they lost to San Antonio in a lockout-shortened season. Their last championship came in 1973, a title won by a roster that included Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Bill Bradley.

What followed was one of the longest stretches of frustration among major American sports franchises.

Between 2000 and 2022, New York won just a single playoff series. Entire generations of fans experienced more front-office turnover than postseason success. Multiple rebuilding efforts failed to produce sustainable results, and Madison Square Garden became associated as much with disappointment as championship aspirations.

That trajectory began changing with the arrival of Jalen Brunson and a more stable basketball operation. Over the past three seasons, the Knicks have evolved from a playoff hopeful into a legitimate contender, culminating in a Finals appearance that has transformed the atmosphere around the franchise.

Evidence of that demand is visible in the secondary ticket market.

Seats for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden are among the most expensive in recent NBA Finals history. Entry-level tickets are listed above $4,000 on major resale platforms, while premium courtside inventory has climbed into six-figure territory. The pricing reflects not only the scarcity of Finals tickets but also decades of pent-up demand in the league's largest media market.

For the NBA, the matchup offers another opportunity to showcase two of its most valuable assets.

The Knicks bring the visibility of New York and one of basketball's largest fan bases. The Spurs arrive with perhaps the league's most marketable young star in Wembanyama, whose rapid rise has made him central to the NBA's next generation of global promotion.

Neither factor guarantees a championship.

The betting market continues to favor San Antonio, but only narrowly. Analysts point to the Spurs' superior regular-season record and defensive profile, while supporters of New York cite the team's playoff resilience and ability to adapt across multiple series.

As the Finals begin, the consensus view is less about dominance than margins.

The Spurs may hold the statistical edge, but the gap between the teams appears considerably smaller than their records suggest. After eight months of regular-season play and three rounds of postseason basketball, the NBA championship will likely be decided by adjustments, health and execution rather than reputation.

Game 1 tips off Wednesday night in San Antonio, with both franchises chasing very different milestones: the Spurs seeking another chapter in an already decorated history, and the Knicks attempting to end a title drought that has lasted more than half a century.