Knicks vs. Spurs live updates: NBA Finals 2026 Game 2 start time, picks and predictions

Given the way the Knicks are set up to orbit around Jalen Brunson as their primary scorer, it’s hard to see a world where New York wins its first NBA Finals in 53 years and its superstar point guard isn’t named the Finals MVP.

Of course, roughly the same back half of that sentence could be used to describe the Golden State Warriors heading into the 2015 NBA Finals behind their own superstar point guard, Stephen Curry, who had won his first NBA MVP award weeks before.

Then, the Warriors went up against the Cleveland Cavaliers and an unstoppable generational superstar — LeBron James, still at the peak of his powers. Despite a very limited Kyrie Irving and no Kevin Love, James dragged the Cavs to a 2-1 series lead. Then Steve Kerr shuffled his lineup in Game 4 to have Andre Iguodala start opposite James. What became known as the Warriors’ “Death Lineup” was born, and Golden State won the Finals and helped bring about an unprecedented era of positionless basketball in the league.

But the part of that I want to focus on — Iguodala, not Curry, was named the 2015 Finals MVP for his efforts against James (who had a very strong case of his own to be the second NBA Finals MVP ever to play for the losing team).

What does that have to do with this series? As amazing as the 6-foot-2 Brunson is, and as vital as he is to New York’s title hopes, he would not have been in a position to help New York’s Game 1 comeback if not for the job Karl-Anthony Towns did against Victor Wembanyama.

Like Iguodala in 2015, Towns is a spectacular player in his own right, matched up against a superstar who tests the physical limits of what a basketball player is able to do. And like Iguodala, Towns deserves as much praise, if not more, for how he battled Wembanyama on both ends of the floor as he does for his counting stats, an impressive 18-point, 12-rebound double-double with four assists in Game 1.

I’m not saying Brunson won’t have a case to win NBA Finals MVP if the Knicks win three more games. I’m just saying that it’s just as hard to imagine a world where that happens and Towns doesn’t also have a strong case for that award.