2026 NBA Finals Grab Bag
Stats, trivia, and other minutiae about the 80th NBA Finals.
It’s been 27 years since the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks last met in the NBA Finals. Here are 27 factoids about the two franchises as the NBA gets ready to crown its 80th champion:
The Spurs have reached the NBA Finals for the seventh time in franchise history. It’s their first appearance since 2014. San Antonio has won five titles, with their lone Finals loss coming in 2013 to the Miami Heat.
The Spurs are one of only four franchises to win at least five championships since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. The others are the Los Angeles Lakers (11 titles), the Chicago Bulls (six), and the Boston Celtics (five).
The Knicks have reached the NBA Finals for the ninth time in franchise history. It’s their first appearance since 1999, when they also faced the Spurs. New York has won two titles, in 1970 and 1973.
The Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers (nee Syracuse Nationals) are tied for the second-most series losses in NBA Finals history with six. The Los Angeles Lakers are the runaway leaders with 15 such losses.
The Knicks enter the Finals on an 11-game winning streak, having outscored their opponents by 262 points over that stretch. That’s the largest point differential in NBA history over any 11-game span, regular season or postseason.
The Knicks are just the fifth team in NBA history to win at least 11 consecutive games in a single postseason. The others are the 2017 Golden State Warriors (15 in a row), the 1999 San Antonio Spurs (12), the 1989 Los Angeles Lakers (11), and the 2001 Lakers (11).
The Knicks have an average point differential of plus-19.4 PPG in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the largest such figure in postseason history by a team prior to the Finals. The previous mark of plus-16.3 PPG was set by the 2017 Golden State Warriors.
The Knicks have won four games by 30 or more points in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, tying the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder for the most such wins in a single postseason.
The Spurs have six wins by 20 or more points in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, tying them with the 1996 Utah Jazz, the 2014 Spurs, the 2018 Golden State Warriors, and the 2019 Milwaukee Bucks for the most such wins in a single postseason.
The Spurs and the Knicks have each recorded seven wins by 15 or more points in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Only three teams in NBA postseason history have posted more such wins prior to the NBA Finals: the 1985 Los Angeles Lakers (nine), the 1996 Utah Jazz (eight), and the 2014 Spurs (eight).
The Spurs have scored at least 100 points in each of their 18 games in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the longest such streak in history by a team prior to the Finals. They are tied with the 2021 LA Clippers and the 2023 Boston Celtics for the most 100-point games in a single postseason through the conference or division finals.
The Knicks have scored at least 100 points in each of their last 23 playoff games, tied with the Boston Celtics (June 8, 1986 to June 11, 1987) for the eighth-longest such streak in NBA postseason history.
Including the playoffs, the Spurs are 45-13 since Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 19), the best record in the NBA over that span. At 40-14, the Knicks are tied with Oklahoma City Thunder for the second-best record over that stretch. However, the Knicks own the highest average point differential over that span (+11.9 PPG), while the Spurs rank second (+11.2 PPG).
The Spurs’ starters have an average age of 24.5 years (based on age in years and days on the day of each playoff game), the second-lowest such figure by a Finals team since the NBA began tracking starters in 1970-71. The low of 24.3 years was set by the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.
The Spurs won their first NBA title on June 25, 1999, beating the Knicks 78-77 in Game 5. The only one of their top-7 scorers in the 2026 NBA Playoffs who was alive at that time is De’Aaron Fox (born on Dec. 20, 1997). On the flip side, nine of the Knicks’ top-10 scorers in these playoffs were alive the last time these two franchises met in the Finals. The exception is Miles McBride, who was born on Sep. 8, 2000.
Spurs rookies Dylan Harper (460 minutes) and Carter Bryant (164) have played a combined 624 minutes through the conference finals, the highest such total by a Finalist since the 1993 Phoenix Suns.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama has made 30 threes and blocked 60 shots in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. He’s the first player in history to record at least 25 three-pointers made and 50 blocks in a single postseason.
The 22-year-old Wembanyama has compiled 394 points, 183 rebounds, and 60 blocks in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. He’s the youngest player to record at least 300 points, 150 rebounds, and 50 blocks in a single postseason since the league began tracking the latter statistic in 1973-74.
The Spurs’ Stephon Castle has produced 345 points and 120 assists in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. He’s the first player in history to record at least 300 points and 100 assists in a single postseason before his 22nd birthday.
The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson became the 71st player in NBA postseason history to reach 2,000 career points. He attained that milestone in 78 games, making him the 18th-fastest player to do so.
Brunson has recorded a plus-minus of plus-226 points in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the highest such figure prior to the Finals in the play-by-play era. The previous mark of plus-215 points was set by Stephen Curry in 2017.
Brunson has scored at least 15 points in each of his last 56 playoff games, tied with Wilt Chamberlain (March 20, 1960 to April 14, 1967) for the 11th-longest such streak in NBA postseason history.
Karl-Anthony Towns has recorded two triple-doubles in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The only other listed 7-footer in history to produce multiple triple-doubles in a single postseason is Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 with seven.
A total of 21 players have made at least 75 field goals in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The top three by effective field goal percentage all play for the Knicks: OG Anunoby (67.9%), Towns (65.2%), and Mikal Bridges (63.8%).
The Knicks’ Landry Shamet has made 21 of his 35 shots from beyond the arc in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, a 3-point field goal percentage of 60.0%. That’s the highest such figure among the 75 players who have made at least 10 threes this postseason.
The Knicks have recorded an effective field goal percentage of 59.2% in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the second-highest such figure in history by a team prior to the Finals. The high of 59.8% was set by the 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Knicks’ Mike Brown is the 11th different head coach to lead multiple franchises to the NBA Finals. It’s been 19 years since his last Finals appearance with the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers, the largest such gap in history by a head coach who’s been to multiple Finals. The previous mark of 14 years was set by the Indiana Pacers’ Rick Carlisle last year.