The Knicks have to be feeling good about themselves after going into San Antonio and stealing Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The media circus and discourse around every game at this point make it feel like the Knicks have figured it all out, while the sky is falling for the Spurs. But history should teach us that’s probably not quite the case, as the last three teams to win Game 1 on the road went on to lose the Finals.
The latest such team was, in fact, the 2022 Boston Celtics, who went into Golden State and won the first game of the series, only to fall, 4-2, as the Warriors’ dynasty won their fourth championship at the expense of the young Celtics.
The roles are a bit reversed this time around as the Knicks are the more veteran, experienced team, while the home-team Spurs are led by a 22-year-old and a 21-year-old, and have the youngest team to reach the Finals since the 1970s.
Still, New York needs to make sure they stay locked in and realize the job is far from finished. They can look to the 2022 Finals for inspiration and realize that going up 1-0 meant very little for Boston. Even going up 2-1 proved meaningless as Golden State figured them out and won the next three games to win the series.
2004 Pistons were last team to win Game 1 on the road and win series
It’s not to say that will happen again, but it’s important to remember that was only one game. That was the first taste of the Finals for almost all of the Spurs’ rotation players, and they were still coming fresh off their dramatic Game 7 victory in Oklahoma City to knock off the defending champion Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
They are going to adjust, figure some things out, and play better. If the Knicks think the rest of the series is going to play out just like Game 1, or that they stole one on the road so they can rest on their laurels, they are likely in for a major wake-up call.
But it’s not impossible or unprecedented for the road team to win Game 1 and take the series, as the Pistons did just that in 2004. Sometimes the better team is the road team; they steal Game 1 and carry that momentum to a title. Right now, it certainly feels like the Knicks are a juggernaut with all the positive energy in the world behind them. They’ve won 12 playoff games in a row, and it seems hard to imagine they are suddenly going to relent or drop the rope.
They’re absolutely in the driver's seat, but still, they’d be wise to look back and reflect on some recent history and realize that just because they won Game 1 in San Antonio, there’s a lot of work left to be done.
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