Game 1 delivered everything the series promised and then some. Brunson left in the first quarter with a right knee injury, came back, hurt his left ankle, stayed in the game, and then somehow scored 19 points in the second half to lead New York on an 11-0 closing run that erased a 13-point third-quarter deficit. Wembanyama shot 6-for-21 and said afterward: "I was bad tonight. It's not more complicated than that." The Knicks won 105-95 and extended their playoff winning streak to 12 games. The market, apparently undeterred, has moved the line six and a half points in San Antonio's favor for Game 2.

Brunson is listed on the injury report with the right knee and left ankle. He says he'll be fine. If history is any guide, fine for Jalen Brunson means 30 points and a game-winning shot.

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New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs | 8:30pm ET, ABC

Game 2. New York leads series 1-0.

The market moving to 6.5 points in San Antonio's favor despite a Game 1 loss tells you something about how oddsmakers view the Spurs' structural advantages at home. It also reflects the simple reality that Wembanyama shooting 6-for-21 in a game the Spurs led by 14 in the third quarter is not the baseline. The version of Wembanyama who said "I was bad tonight" publicly after his Finals debut is not the version that will walk into Frost Bank Center on Friday. He has responded to every difficult individual performance in this postseason with a dominant one in the next game. The 41-point Game 1 masterpiece against OKC followed a period of concussion protocol. The 28-point statement in Game 6 came two games after his worst performance of the season. He is the most competitive player on either roster and he has the most to prove.

The Brunson injury is the central variable and the one neither team can fully account for until tip-off. He hurt his right knee in the first quarter when Harrison Barnes fell into it at an awkward angle, went to the locker room, returned, then aggravated his left ankle when Luke Kornet landed on him on a drive. He played through both, scored 19 points after halftime, and was furious about the non-call each time. Afterward he said "I'll be all right" with the kind of certainty that has come to define how Brunson handles these situations. He is listed on the injury report and expected to play, but a version of him with limited lateral mobility is a meaningfully different offensive weapon than the player who generated 11-0 runs against every team he's faced. The Spurs' coaching staff will be game-planning for both versions.

The pace problem that San Antonio couldn't solve in Game 1 was a function of the Knicks' defense clamping down during Wembanyama's rest periods. Every time Wemby sat in the third quarter, New York attacked the paint relentlessly and erased the lead in chunks. The Spurs were 0-for-a-stretch from three in those stretches, Champagnie's 5-for-10 outlier aside, and the collective 6-for-33 from distance by the rest of the roster was the single most damaging shooting number of the night. San Antonio averaged 115.3 points per game this postseason by pushing pace and creating three-point opportunities in transition. None of that materialized cleanly in Game 1. Friday is the correction game.

Castle was the Spurs' most reliable offensive option in Game 1 with 17 points, and his ability to attack Brunson's defensive assignments — or whoever the Knicks slide in to hide Brunson's limitations — will be the tactical subplot to watch in the first half. Fox has been quiet in this series so far, managing his ankle with the same caution the Spurs have applied since the Minnesota series. His explosiveness in transition is San Antonio's most dangerous weapon against a Knicks team that has 11 days of rest-built freshness but no particular advantage in pace. If Fox pushes tempo from the opening possession and creates early offense before Thibodeau's defense can organize, Frost Bank Center will respond.

The Spurs have not lost back-to-back home games in two full postseason runs. Their record at home this postseason was 6-3 before Game 1, and their two home losses were both to teams that played extraordinary games. They won the response game every time. The crowd at Frost Bank Center on Friday will be the loudest it has been since Game 7 against Oklahoma City, carrying the urgency of a team that understands what going down 0-2 before the series shifts to New York would mean.

Mitchell Robinson remains on the injury report with the broken right pinkie finger. He played through it in Game 1 and will do so again.

San Antonio wins if Wembanyama plays the game his competitive instincts are demanding after his public self-assessment, Fox and Castle attack the Knicks' defensive rotations with the pace and precision that has been San Antonio's most dangerous mode all postseason, and Frost Bank Center creates the environment that has made the Spurs nearly unbeatable at home for two consecutive playoff runs. The six-and-a-half-point line exists because this is what the market believes will happen.

New York wins if Brunson is healthy enough to be himself, Towns is the most productive offensive big man on either floor, and the Knicks execute the fourth-quarter closing runs that have ended every competitive game in their favor since April 23. Thirteen straight wins in this scenario. The kind of streak that doesn't happen by accident.

The pick: San Antonio wins Game 2 but does not cover the 6.5. The Spurs get the bounce-back performance from Wembanyama that this moment demands, Frost Bank Center forces the series into the even territory every expert projected from the beginning, and Brunson's injury limits his mobility enough to make the Knicks' late-game execution more difficult than it was in Game 1. But the Knicks have Brunson, even at 80%, and this series is not a 6.5-point talent gap in either direction. San Antonio wins by four or five. The line is a point and a half too generous.

The NBA Finals continue Friday at 8:30pm on ABC with the series in San Antonio for the last time until a potential Game 5. The Spurs need this one. They know it. Their crowd knows it. Wembanyama said all he needed to say Wednesday night when he kept it short, kept it honest, and left nothing ambiguous about his intentions for Game 2.

Game 1 was the Knicks' night. Game 2 is Wembanyama's response.