2026 NBA Finals Match-Up Now Set

   

2025 NBA Finals Update

2025 NBA Finals Champions: Oklahoma City Thunder 

So we have known for a while now that the New York Knickerbockers won the Eastern Conference, and thus would play in the 2026 NBA Finals.

But we had to wait quite a while to find out who their opponents would be. While the Knicks quickly and convincingly dispatched with their opponents, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Spurs and defending champion Thunder went the distance in their tough Western Conference Finals series. 

In the end, however, the Spurs outlastedthem  the Thunder, handing them a devastating Game 7 loss in Oklahoma City, before their home fans. 

So while the NBA - almost alone among major North American sports leagues - had seemingly seen an endless run of multiple NBA champions winning again and again from 1984 until perhaps 2019, more or less, the NBA currently now has a still relevant streak of one championship wonders. Honestly, I thought that OKC might just be the team that finally broke that streak. They looked good - like, really, even historically, good - for much of the season. Yet in the end, they fall before even getting an opportunity to defend their NBA title in the Finals.

What that means is that this year's NBA Finals will be a rematch (of sorts) of the 1999 NBA Finals. The New York Knicks will face off against the San Antonio Spurs. 

It should be a good series. Better, I would think, than the 1999 series proved to be. The Spurs were just quite dominant back then. They made relatively short work of the Knicks, winning the title in Game 5, at Madison Square Garden.

This time, I feel that the Knicks have a better shot. In fact, I believe they have a real shot at finally ending their championship drought. As a franchise, the Knickerbockers have not won an NBA title since back in 1973. The Knicks have qualified for the NBA Finals for a sixth time in franchise history. They won the NBA Championship in 1970 and again in 1973. They also qualified for the NBA Finals (but did not win) in 1972, 1994, and 1999. The Knicks will seek their third ever NBA title.

As for the Spurs, they qualified for the seventh NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. They won five of them, which places them fifth overall among NBA franchises. Now they have a chance to capture their sixth NBA title, which would tie them with the Chicago Bulls for fourth overall.