One of the most common refrains used when describing the NBA playoffs is that the game slows down.
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Not necessarily that the basketball becomes easier, but each minute is so tense, both teams are so focused and each possession is so tight that the winner is often decided by which team — or player — can execute when the game halts to a grind.
In Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson was that player, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Knicks to a 105-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs and 1-0 series lead. The Spurs, meanwhile, scored only 19 points over that final period as a team and looked discombobulated as they struggled to put the ball into the hoop.
What’s made Brunson one of the NBA’s premier playoff performers over the last few seasons is how well he operates when the Knicks desperately need a bucket.
Since the start of the 2023 postseason, no player has made or attempted more clutch field goals than Brunson. (Clutch is defined as a game within five points with under five minutes to go.)
And only 14.8% of Brunson’s clutch makes have been assisted, the lowest percentage of any player with at least 100 clutch attempts. That means Brunson is not only unafraid to take and make the biggest shots — he often does so creating entirely for himself.
“In the biggest moments, he shows up, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do,” New York head coach mike Brown said postgame. “We put the ball in his hands and said we are going to live and die with him. And he got it done for us, and that’s happened time after time after time. He got to his spots and he made plays.”
Said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up. He’s a phenomenal player.”
In Game 1, Brunson was able to come through in the fourth even after a rough start.
In the first quarter, he briefly left the game after appearing to hurt his right knee. In the second quarter, he looked to be in pain after his left ankle was stepped on. And by the end of the third quarter, Brunson had made only 7 of 22 of his field-goal attempts. But he rose to the occasion in the fourth, finishing with 30 points.
“I think it starts with my confidence. It comes with my work ethic,” Brunson said of how he was able to elevate late in the game. “Most importantly, knowing we’re on the road, and knowing my teammates have my back, I think that’s the biggest thing in an environment like this — the trust they have in me and the trust I have in them, it’s got us to this point.”
While Brunson was able to go into his well-worn bag of tricks, San Antonio was searching for answers. The Spurs scored only 40 points in the entire second half, and struggled to generate good looks in the fourth quarter.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama reacts during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
Though Victor Wembanyama had a brief eight-point spurt to make the game close, he was still inefficient during his 11-point fourth quarter, shooting only 3 of 8 from the field and also committing two costly turnovers. (The Knicks had zero turnovers in the fourth.)
Wembanyama didn’t get much help from his teammates, as the Spurs as a team shot only 28.6% from the field in the fourth. De’Aaron Fox, the speedy guard who is the oldest player in San Antonio’s starting lineup, couldn’t settle the team down, missing his only two shots in the final frame while coughing up the ball twice.
The nature of clutch basketball is a single-game sample size is so small that random events can and do occur, which is a fancy way of saying Game 1 doesn’t mean the Spurs will never be good in those big moments. But it’s been a sore spot for San Antonio so far during its first postseason run, as the team now has a 96.8 offensive rating in clutch time after Wednesday’s loss.
New York, on the other hand, has a 107.7 offensive rating in clutch moments this playoffs, including an 18.5 net rating, which means when things get tight, the Knicks start pulling away from their opponents.
In Game 1, Brunson was able to consistently create offense for himself, while the Spurs couldn’t answer on the other end.
Said Brown: “[Brunson] was the MVP in the second half…He did what MVP candidates are supposed to do. He carried us home.”
