NBA finals: in a mud wrestle shaped by 53 years of dread, Jalen Brunson was the difference
Article excerpt
The New York Knicks won Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, with point guard Jalen Brunson emerging as the decisive factor in a physical, grinding contest. The victory carries outsized meaning for New York, a franchise haunted by 53 years without a championship since 1970. The Knicks are fighting not just an opponent but their own history, a weight that made Wednesday's win in San Antonio feel like a crucial psychological step toward ending one of basketball's longest droughts.
The New York Knicks are fighting history as well as the Spurs. On Wednesday night in San Antonio, they took a crucial step towards defeating both
It is uncommon to begin counting down after the opening game of an NBA finals, but these are uncommon times in New York, and the Knicks have been counting since Richard Nixon was president, their coach, Mike Brown, was three years old, and their opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, played in the American Basketball Association as the Dallas Chaparrals. After the Knicks took Game 1 105-95, the anticipation in New York rose to yet another level.
Game 1 was not a good game, but it was a great game. The first quarter was ragged. So was the second. Neither team could shoot from distance, the Knicks shot 31% from three, the Spurs 26%. The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, the sport’s heir apparent, made his finals debut with six turnovers, 6-for-21 shooting from the field, defensively alive but never transcendent. Both Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ superb, always underestimated engine, took nine three-pointers. Each made two.
Howard Bryant is the author of 11 books, including The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism and Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America.
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