Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals tips off at 8:30 PM Eastern on Saturday, with the New York Knicks holding a three games to one lead on the San Antonio Spurs. With a win on Saturday, the Knicks will clinch the franchise’s third NBA title and first since 1973.
As for the Spurs, a win on Saturday would send the series back to New York for Game 6 on Tuesday night. Given how Game 4 played out, with San Antonio blowing a 29-point second-half lead, Victor Wembanyama and company enter Saturday believing that they let another game slip away.
Saturday’s Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals will mark the sixth Game 5 that the San Antonio Spurs have played in their Finals history. And if the past is a sign of what’s to come, Spurs fans may be able to breathe easy.
San Antonio is 5-0 in its previous NBA Finals Game 5s, including a series clincher against the Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals. Their most recent NBA Finals Game 5 victory was the series clincher against the Miami Heat in 2014.
Maybe not relevant but Spurs are 5-0 in Finals Game 5s: 98-99, Won in NY 78-77 (clinched series 4-1) 02-03, Won in NJ 93-83 (went up 3-2) 04-05, Won in DET 96-95 (went up 3-2) 12-13, Won at home v MIami 114-104 (went up 3-2) 13-14, Won at home v Miami 104-87 (clinched series 4-1)
— HoopsAnalyst (@hoopsanalyst.bsky.social) 2026-06-13T22:56:00.152Z
Of the five Game 5 NBA Finals wins, four would result in the Spurs going on to win the title. The lone exception was the 2013 NBA Finals, as the Heat went on to win Games 6 and 7 to erase a 3-2 series deficit.
Spurs backup center Luke Kornet is available for Saturday’s game after initially being listed as questionable due to an illness.
“He’s getting better and he’ll be available tonight,” says Coach Johnson of Luke Kornet (illness)
— Paul Garcia (@paulgarcia.bsky.social) 2026-06-13T22:46:19.858Z
While the 7-foot-1 Kornet has served as Victor Wembanyama’s backup, his playing time has decreased as the NBA Finals have progressed. After playing 10 minutes in Game 1, Kornet totaled 21 minutes in Games 2, 3 and 4, most recently playing four minutes on Wednesday night.
Given how tired Wembanyama looked late in Game 4, the Spurs may look to give Kornet a few more minutes in the first half to ensure their star is fresh down the stretch.
Not long after the San Antonio Spurs arrived at Frost Bank Arena ahead of Saturday’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the New York Knicks have done the same. At stake for the Eastern Conference champions is the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973.
Jalen Brunson arrives for Game 5!
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2026
🏆 Knicks (3-1) Spurs
⏰ 8:30pm/et, ABC pic.twitter.com/jKpQv0gbqS
On Wednesday, the Knicks erased a 29-point second-half deficit to win by a final score of 107-106, setting a record for the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. This was also the second time in these playoffs that New York came back from at least 22 points down, having done so in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers.
Only once in NBA Finals history has a team erased a 3-1 deficit to win the series, with the Cleveland Cavaliers doing so in 2016. The San Antonio Spurs will look to take the first step towards becoming the second with a win in Game 5 on Saturday night, and the key players have begun to arrive at Frost Bank Arena in San Antonio.
Wemby arrives for Game 5 in San Antonio!
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2026
🏆 Knicks (3-1) Spurs
⏰ 8:30pm/et, ABC pic.twitter.com/iOMFtBEgjh
Dylan Harper in the building ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2026
NYK (3-1) SAS.
GAME 5.
8:30pm/et on ABC. pic.twitter.com/yAixhqyl52
Victor Wembanyama tallied 24 points and 13 rebounds in Game 4, but did so while shooting 9-of-25 from the field. Also, he logged 44 minutes, the most in a game for him since the opener of the Western Conference Finals. He appeared to be a bit fatigued during Wednesday’s fourth quarter, and the hope is that the extra day off ahead of Game 5 will pay dividends for the 7-foot-4 phenom.
With the road team having won the first three games of the 2026 NBA Finals, that streak appeared likely to extend to four on Wednesday night. The Spurs came out of the gates scalding hot, setting an NBA Finals record with 14 made three-pointers in the first half.
That hot shooting would allow San Antonio to take a 76-49 lead into the intermission, and things would only get worse for the Knicks early in the third quarter. The Spurs extended their lead to 29 on a De’Aaron Fox jumper with 9:40 remaining in the period.
However, as has been the case on multiple occasions in recent playoff runs, the Knicks refused to roll over. That Fox shot was immediately followed by a 13-0 New York run, and they would go into the final quarter trailing by 15, 90-75.
The final frame was a continuation of that run, with the Spurs settling for jumpers while the Knicks relied on ball and player movement. Jose Alvarado replacing Mikal Bridges in the closing lineup gave the Knicks an additional ball-handler, which opened things up for Jalen Brunson and the offense as a whole.
Brunson scored nine of his game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter, while OG Anunoby capped his 33-point night with an eight-point fourth. And Anunoby’s tip-in of a Brunson missed three with 1.2 seconds remaining gave the Knicks the lead. That one-point edge was preserved when Karl-Anthony Towns’ deflection of the ensuing inbounds pass led to San Antonio’s Stephon Castle not getting off a shot before time expired.
Final score: 107-106 in what is the biggest comeback in an NBA Finals game.
