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New York Knicks star Josh Hart knew the San Antonio Spurs were in trouble before they even stepped foot on the same floor in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Hart, 31, said the Spurs’ blunder came during their celebration after winning Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals over the Oklahoma City Thunder. After Spurs knocked out the reigning champions to progress, Victor Wembanyama was reduced to tears.
“Everybody’s talking to them about, ‘Yo, they’ve got to beat OKC. OKC’s going to repeat,'” Hart said during a recent episode of “The Roommates Show” with teammate Jalen Brunson taped at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
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New York Knicks forward Josh Hart looks on after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on May 23, 2026. (David Richard/Imagn Images)
“They beat OKC. For a young team, I feel like that was the peak for them. That’s when I looked at (Brunson) and I was like, ‘See that reaction? Because as if they think they will win it. They think it’s over.”
Hart contrasted the Spurs’ jubilation after beating the Thunder to the Knicks’ mindset after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 1999.
“You look at our reaction after we beat Cleveland — it was hard to celebrate because we were like, ‘We got four more.’ Obviously it’s a great accomplishment to win the Eastern Conference, but we all looked at this like this is just a step. This is not the destination. This is just a step,” Hart said.
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San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson shoots as New York Knicks guard Josh Hart defends during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals in New York on June 8, 2026. (Al Bello/AP)
“The reaction after Game 4 in Cleveland showed that.”
Hart’s summation proved correct as the youthful Spurs blew double-digit leads in all four of their losses to the Knicks.
The Knicks’ poise and resilience were the team’s defining trademarks, as three of the five biggest comebacks in NBA Finals history came during this series against the Spurs.
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New York Knicks guard Josh Hart celebrates during the NBA championship parade in New York on June 18, 2026. (Heather Khalifa/AP)
The Knicks players didn’t start celebrating until after defeating the Spurs in Game 5, as they kept saying their mindset was that the series was “0-0” after each game.
Hart was his usual self in the NBA Finals, playing strong defense while serving as a strong rebounder and facilitator on offense. In the team’s 19 playoff games, Hart averaged 10.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
