The New York Knicks have drawn first blood in the 2025-26 NBA Finals. On the road at the San Antonio Spurs, the Knicks erased a 14-point deficit to win Game 1 by 105-95.It was the Knicks who emerged victorious in Game 1 of the NBA FinalsGettyIn doing so, New York – who clinched the Commissioner’s Cup earlier in the season – won their 12th consecutive game this post-season, and their 11th by a double-digit margin. This was largely thanks to Jalen Brunson’s clutch 30 point outing – 13 of which came in the fourth quarter – along with some sizeable offensive contributions from Karl-Anthony Towns (18 points, 12 rebounds) and OG Anunoby (17 points). “Jalen, he was the MVP in the second half. He was huge for us,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said of Brunson – who followed in his father’s footsteps of playing for the Knicks agains the Spurs in an NBA Finals – after the game. “He did what MVP candidates are supposed to do. He carried us home. We put the ball in his hands, and he got it done for us down the stretch.”Meanwhile, Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama posted a 26 points, 12 rebounds double-double, though he shot just 6-of-21 from the field and 2-of-9 from three-point range. Perhaps his poor production, by his own very high standards, could be attributed to some fatigue after a gruelling seven-game series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Defensively, though, Towns and Mitchell Robinson did a stellar job on the 7-foot-4 French phenom, combining to neutralise him and force him into committing six turnovers, while Josh Hart was a menace off the glass, grabbing 15 rebounds (13 on defense). “For me, when I go out there, I try to be aggressive in playmaking,” Towns said after the game. “Early in the game, just you never know what actually the defense is going to give you. You don’t know what is going to unfold, but I just wanted to be aggressive, especially early in the game.”Towns shares emotional moment with ShaqFor Towns, though, Game 1 was particularly poignant, as he revealed that he felt the presence of his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns with him. Towns left his mark on the game on both ends of the ballGettyGettyThe 30-year-old revealed he could feel his mother looking down on him in an emotional interaction with Shaq[/caption]Town’s mother’s passing came back in April 2020 at the age of 58, resulting from complications from COVID-19. Speaking with the Inside the NBA studio crew after the game – the team’s first time covering the NBA Finals – Towns spoke candidly of his feelings in the build up to Game 1, sharing an emotional interaction with Shaquille O’Neal post-game. “I don’t know what it was, but I just felt a calm and a peace that, I don’t know, had to be coming from the woman above,” Towns said.“I felt really confident about today, I felt good. I felt like a kid. It was just fun out here. “This is something that as a kid you always dream about. You always hope to be an NBA player, let alone to be in the NBA Finals. “All day, it was just a weird feeling. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to play my Saturday AAU games and my Sunday AAU games. “In a way, it felt like I was seeing her in the stands. It was fun, it was really fun, and it was really comforting because Game 1 of the NBA Finals, you’re told how the pressure’s going to be. “I don’t know. It felt like a certain presence was here that was very comforting and very loving, and I felt like I could have fun out here, which is the weirdest thing because you would expect to have the pressure at the highest.”“Yes, Rest in peace to your beautiful mother,” Shaq said in response. Towns and the Knicks will play Game 2 of the series on Friday night in San Antonio before the series returns to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4. Stay up to date on all things NBA across our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET.