History is not on Spurs' side after dropping first two games

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama. Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

History is not on Spurs' side after dropping first two games of NBA Finals at home

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jun 6, 2026 12:17 AM ET

The New York Knicks extended their postseason winning streak on Friday night with a thrilling 105-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs to take a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.

Going up 2-0 in any playoff series, and especially the Finals, is usually a strong sign for the team that is ahead.

Only five teams in NBA Finals history have ever come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the championship.

That is great news for the Knicks and very, very bad news for the Spurs.

But things get even worse for the Spurs when you add in the fact they went down 2-0 by losing both games at home.

History is not on Spurs side after losing first two games of NBA Finals at home

Only two other teams in the history of the NBA Finals have ever opened the series by losing the first two games on their home court. It previously happened to the 1993 Phoenix Suns and the 1995 Orlando Magic.

Neither team came back to win the series.

No team in NBA history who has lost the first two games of the Finals at home has ever come back to win it.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 6, 2026

The Suns ended up losing the 1993 series to the Chicago Bulls in six games, while the Magic lost to the Houston Rockets in a four-game sweep in the 1995 series.

That is the history working against the Spurs here.

And that is before you even get into the reality that the Knicks are currently on one of the greatest all-time NBA runs in league history, having now won 13 games in a row. Their Game 2 win on Friday is one of the only games over that stretch where they were ever in danger of losing it at the end.

The Spurs now have to find a way to win four of the next five games against that Knicks team, including three of them at Madison Square Garden, a building that is going to be an absolute madhouse on Monday and Wednesday night for Games 3 and 4 of the series. The Spurs should have been feeling optimistic about their chances at the start. That optimism might be rapidly slipping away.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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