2026 NBA Finals betting preview: Knicks vs. Spurs odds, best bets and more for series that starts Wednesday

It's a revenge scenario more than a quarter century in the making when the New York Knicks face the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, which begins Wednesday, June 3, with an 8:30 p.m. ET tip-off at San Antonio's Frost Bank Center. The Knicks haven't made the Finals since 1999, when the Spurs beat them in five games for their first NBA championship. New York last won the NBA Finals in 1973, while San Antonio has won four more titles since the 1999 triumph -- in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014. The Knicks won two of three meetings in the regular season, including a 124-113 victory in the NBA Cup final. 

Both teams are relatively healthy -- at least as healthy as they can be after a grueling season. New York center Mitchell Robinson plans to play in Game 1 despite having had surgery on a broken finger, while OG Anunoby's hamstring issue has cleared up. Josh Hart continues to fight through various ailments. The most recent was a thumb problem versus Philadelphia, and he has nagging nerve and finger issues on his shooting hand, but it hasn't hindered him too much. For the Spurs, guards Dylan Harper (adductor) and De'Aaron Fox (ankle) both have been banged up in recent series but are playing through their discomfort.

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Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals betting odds (via FanDuel)

To win NBA Finals

Series total games

Series correct score

Series handicaps

NBA Finals MVP

Others: Mitchell Robinson +100000; Julian Champagnie +100000; Miles McBride +100000; Keldon Johnson +100000; Carter Bryant +100000; Landry Shamet +100000; Luke Kornet +100000

Top points scorer

Others: Mikal Bridges +12500; Devin Vassell +12500; Josh Hart +20000; Dylan Harper +20000

Series most total rebounds

Series most total assists

Most total made 3-pointers

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Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals best bets

• Series to go 6 games (+210) 
• Stephon Castle most assists in series (+150)
• Karl-Anthony Towns Finals MVP (+2200)

New York has won 11 in a row since two one-point losses to the Hawks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, while San Antonio comes in off a fierce seven-game battle with the top-seeded Thunder in the West. The Knicks' last game was May 25, when they finished off the Cavaliers with a 43-point victory. The Spurs also have played four more games than the East champs and just finished off OKC on Saturday. 

The Knicks have seen little resistance in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, beating teams by an average of 19 points, and their plus-262 point differential over the 11-game win streak is the best stretch in NBA history. But how much of that can be attributed to the competition? The Knicks didn't have play the top-seeded Pistons or No. 2 seed Boston. San Antonio outscored its playoff opponents by 10 points per game.

New York won two of the three meetings this season, with the NBA Cup final played on a neutral court in Las Vegas and each team winning at home. San Antonio won its home game 134-132 behind 36 points from Julian Champagnie, 31 points and 13 rebounds from Victor Wembanyama and 26 points from De'Aaron Fox. Jalen Brunson (29) was one of four Knicks to score at least 20 points.

San Antonio was held under 100 points just three times in the regular season, and one of those was a 114-89 loss in New York when Wembanyama had 25 points and 13 boards and only two other Spurs scored in double figures. New York had six players in double figures, led by Mikal Bridges (25) and Brunson (24). Karl-Anthony Towns had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Josh Hart also had a double-double with 10 and 10. It was one of just two losses for the Spurs in the regular season after Feb. 1 with Wembanyama in the lineup.

Brunson is the top scorer left in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, with his 26.9 points per game behind only Detroit's Cade Cunningham (28.1) and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27.6) for the Thunder. Wembanyama and Towns are both averaging more than 10.5 rebounds per contest, and Wemby is blocking 3.5 shots per game, almost twice as many as any other player in the postseason. Towns and OG Anunoby are both shooting better than 48% from 3-point range for the Knicks, who have been the best in the playoffs both from long range (40.0%) and in overall shooting percentage (51.1). San Antonio is at 46.9% from the field and 36.5% from 3-point range.       

I love Towns for MVP at this price, even if Brunson is the one who makes the Knicks go. Towns does more than his part, averaging 16.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. Iif the Knicks pull this off, he will be a big reason why. The matchup between the 7-footer and the 7-foot-4 "Alien" Wembanyama is going to decide this series, and Towns should give Brunson a run for his money if New York can end its long title drought. Towns is shooting 57% from the field and 49% from long range in the playoffs. He could become the fifth player in NBA history to average 15/10/5 on 55% shooting in a single postseason, joining Wilt Chamberlain (1967), Charles Barkley (1986), LeBron James (2020) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (2021). Towns' 5.9 assists in the postseason is his best mark over any 14-game span in his NBA career.

The Knicks should be more comfortable on the big stage after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last year, losing to the Pacers in six games. They have reached the playoffs five of the past six seasons. Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are all in the playoffs for the first time with the Spurs, who are in the postseason for the first time since 2018-19.

Castle is the top assist man left in the postseason, averaging 6.7 helpers, just ahead of Brunson's 6.6. He averaged 7.4 in the regular season and has had at least six in nine straight games. The second-year guard out of UConn averaged 7.6 assists in the huge series against the Thunder, and he should be front and center in another massive matchup.   

I'm leaning toward the Spurs to win in six games, but this is going to be a slug-fest, so I'm just going with the total games play. The Knicks are going to be under massive pressure, while the Spurs are playing with house money at this point, being in the Finals after missing the playoffs the past six years. San Antonio also has the best player on the court in Wembanyama, though he is just 22 and San Antonio is the fourth-youngest team to reach NBA Finals since the merger. 

That might mean they have the "ignorance of youth" -- and confidence -- on their side in this series, and it just might get them a title. The talent is there to win it, and the Spurs were the best team in the league the second half of the season. Beating OKC was a huge accomplishment, and they appear ready to take the ultimate next step and hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy.       

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