The New York Knicks are heading back to Madison Square Garden with a 2-0 lead in the 2026 NBA Finals, and Karl-Anthony Towns made it clear after Friday’s 105-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs that he believes the team’s success is rooted in collective effort rather than individual accomplishments.
Towns finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block as New York extended its playoff winning streak to 13 games. The Knicks survived a late Spurs comeback and closed out another road win behind timely plays from Jalen Brunson and a crucial defensive stop from Mitchell Robinson.
Asked about Robinson’s game-saving defense on Victor Wembanyama in the final seconds, Towns delivered one of the strongest endorsements of his teammate seen during these playoffs.
“I feel like that last play was a culmination of the game just downloading information as the game went along guarding Wemby throughout the game,” Towns said. “I think at the last possession it was the best defense he’s played on him all day and there was no better time for him to do that.”
The Knicks center praised Robinson’s impact on both ends despite playing through injury.
“But Mitch is a hell of a defensive player and you expect him to make the best effort defensively and it just speaks to his resiliency too,” Towns said. “Going out here playing with the injury and coming up with the biggest play of the game.”
Towns then offered perhaps the most memorable quote of the night.
“He’s one of a kind. I don’t know if there’s another Mitch Robinson in the league. I don’t think there’s only Mitchell Robinson. There’s only one of them and we’re honored and blessed to have him.”
The veteran big man also highlighted the role experience played in helping New York close out a game that nearly slipped away after San Antonio erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.
“I think that for us we keep leaning on experience and we keep leaning on the word execution,” Towns said. “And I think we did a good job when we needed to executing, but we didn’t do as well as we want to.”
Despite the victory, Towns emphasized that the Knicks are already focused on improving before Game 3.
“When we get back to New York, we’ll get back to work. We’ll get back to the gym and try to correct the mistakes we made tonight.”
That team-first mentality surfaced repeatedly throughout Towns’ press conference. When asked whether this version of his game might be the best of his career, he declined to discuss individual performance.
“For me, I’m just happy to be finding ways to win, you know, with JB and everybody,” Towns said. “I’m just worried about the team result, which is winning.”
Towns also credited the chemistry inside New York’s locker room as the foundation of the club’s postseason run.
“This team doesn’t disband,” he said. “They don’t go away from each other. We lean into each other even more. We trust each other even more to get out of the rut.”
He added: “That’s where the resiliency comes from that we don’t want to let each other down. We do look at each other as family, as brothers.”
The Knicks now return to New York needing just two more victories to secure the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973. If Towns’ comments are any indication, the focus inside the locker room remains exactly where it has been throughout the playoffs — on unity, execution and winning the next game.
