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San Antonio’s recent thrilling Spurs playoff run delivered an estimated $36.2 million in economic impact from game ticket sales and visitor spending on hotels, food and transportation, according to Visit San Antonio. The tourism agency said the estimate also includes a boost to San Antonio businesses and media exposure from national and international television outlets.
Visit San Antonio broke down the projected impact by playoff round, putting the first two rounds at $3.5 million each, the Western Conference finals at nearly $6.8 million, and the NBA Finals — with the study projected for a seven-game series — at about $22 million. San Antonio hotels and tourism saw a significant surge of business from New York Knicks fans who traveled to watch Game 1, Game 2 and Game 5 at the Frost Bank Center.
San Antonio could use a backup stretch big as it reloads for next season, and a combo stretch big man who can start and possibly play alongside Wembanyama in bigger lineups such as Rui Hachimura. The opportunity to play alongside Wembanyama, the franchise's success, its culture and collective youth make San Antonio a preferred destination, sources said, adding that multiple big men are already trying to get to south Texas.
Ian Begley: Knicks, fresh off a late night/early morning return from San Antonio on Sunday, hosted Duke guard Isaiah Evans today as part of a group workout for draft prospects, per SNY sources. Knicks have the No. 24, No. 31 and No. 55 picks in next week’s draft.
This team Leon Rose built is the NBA's first to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy and NBA Cup double in the same season. It just beat the Spurs four times in five tries despite spotting a double-digit lead to San Antonio in the first quarter of all five games. And it joins only Toronto in 2018-19, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, as NBA champions with four starters acquired via trade. These Knicks and those Raptors are also the league's only two teams, per Elias, to open a Finals-clinching game with five players it didn't draft.
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Ian Begley: Behind 45 points from Jalen Brunson, Knicks win in San Antonio to clinch franchise's first NBA title in 53 years. Masterpiece from the NYK captain, who had 15 in fourth to help NYK rebound from 7-pt deficit. Massive offensive rebound from Mitchell Robinson late helped seal game
Knicks fans were heaving half-court shots to reach San Antonio ahead of New York’s potentially championship-clinching showdown with the Spurs after stormy weather canceled flights Friday. Orange and blue-clad New Yorkers were ready to invade the second-rate Texas city for Saturday night’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but travel plans were thrown into chaos thanks to a raging thunderstorm that swept through the tristate area. Brooklyn resident Toby Hyde was supposed to board a 5:33 p.m. flight to San Antonio from JFK Airport with a layover in Dallas until the plane was grounded, sending him scrambling for a backup plan.
One quick hand motion has some in San Antonio up in arms. Some extra attention has been brought to Karl-Anthony Towns’ deflection on the final play of Wednesday’s miracle Knicks Game 4 Finals win after it appears he motioned to the fans sitting courtside to crowd Spurs rookie Dylan Harper for the critical inbounds pass. With the Knicks leading 107-106 with 1.2 seconds remaining, Towns walked toward Harper — positioned on the left sidelines if looking straight at the basket from midcourt — and discretely motioned toward Harper with his left hand to a man in a suit and a man in an orange shirt. As Harper took one step to his right, the two men also moved in that direction closer to the guard.
NBA Central: Most tickets for Game 5 in San Antonio are being purchased by New Yorkers, with 37% of sales coming from New York. The get-in price has also surged by $1,000 following the Knicks’ Game 4 win Top billing states: • New York — 37% • Texas — 12% • New Jersey — 8% (Ticket prices via @TickPick )
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"We have a veteran group. Nobody is quote-unquote 'panicking' or anything like that," Brown said. "Everybody is disappointed that we didn't go out and execute, and play to what we feel our standard is. That's not taking anything away from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play a lot better than what we did."
Danny Green on Uncle Dennis' influence on Kawhi Leonard leaving San Antonio: I think his Uncle had a lot of what to do, what’s going on off the court, a lot of influence. I think once his Uncle saw some distasteful things in his mind. It was like, “Alright we not doing this.” Because San Antonio they don’t treat nobody like superstars and I think his Uncle kind of rightfully so, you know what I’m saying? should have been treated like a superstar.
The New York Knicks are two games away from their first NBA championship since 1973. The Knicks held on for a thrilling 105-104 Game 2 win against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals on Friday night. They lead the series 2-0 thanks to two road wins and will now head to Madison Square Garden with a chance to potentially clinch a title.
