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The pressure and anticipation of the NBA Finals is felt throughout basketball, whether players want to say it or not.
However, New York Knicks star center Karl-Anthony Towns revealed he “felt a calm and peace” despite the stakes in Game 1 Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio against the Spurs.
The reason for his serenity through chaos? His mother.
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New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shouts during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio on June 3, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)
Towns’ mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died in April 2020 from complications related to COVID-19. But even though she wasn’t in the stands for his son’s first NBA Finals game, Towns said he felt her presence throughout the day.
“I don’t know what it was, but I just felt a calm and a peace that I don’t know must have come from the woman upstairs,” Towns told ESPN’s “Inside The NBA” after the Knicks’ 105-95 victory over the Spurs to take Game 1 on the road. “So I felt really confident today. I felt good.
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“I felt like a kid. It was just fun here. It’s something that, as a kid, you always dream of. You always hope to be an NBA player, let alone make the NBA Finals. The whole day, it was just a weird feeling. I felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. In a way, I felt like seeing her in the stands, and it was really fun. It was really heartwarming.
Towns admitted that it seemed strange to him because he had been told what the NBA Finals would be like in terms of pressure and the need for execution. But the ability to play freely undoubtedly helped him, especially when the Knicks were down.
Jacqueline Cruz, mother of Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, died May 16 in Minneapolis after a weeklong battle with COVID-19. She was 59 years old. The photo shows Cruz with Towns during his official NBA Rookie of the Year photos in 2016. (Brian Peterson/Star Tribune)
While Jalen Brunson hit a mid-range dagger late in the fourth quarter to all but seal the Knicks’ victory, it was Towns who made things happen in the third quarter to erase a 14-point deficit and allow New York to make another return to the NBA playoffs.
Towns was creating second-chance buckets for the Knicks, while playing stellar defense against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama to give his team’s bench momentum. At one point, Towns was huffing and puffing, clearly gassed after giving it his all in the quarter.
Towns finished the game with 18 points and 12 rebounds for another playoff double-double, while recording four assists and a block. He shot 7 of 15 from the field and even admitted after the game that he didn’t believe he, nor the Knicks as a whole, played a great offensive game.
But it was the team’s defense that helped them rally and get the buckets needed on the other end to close out a 10-point victory.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns looks for a call during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio on June 3, 2026. (David J. Phillip/AP)
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This victory marked the 12th straight victory for the Knicks, as their playoff run has been truly remarkable to watch en route to the NBA Finals. They’ll look for lucky number 13 Friday night in Game 2 against the Spurs before returning to Madison Square Garden next week.
