With the conference finals underway in the 2026 NBA playoffs, there are just four remaining possible matchups for the Finals next month.
Heading into Thursday's Game 2 between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers and Friday's Game 3 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, let's take a deeper look at those possibilities, ranking them in order of how compelling each Finals pairing would be.
Most of these assessments are intangible, of course, and there's no wrong answer with such exciting stars and teams available. But based on a combination of connections between the teams, narrative elements and player matchups, here is what neutral fans should hope for as the conference finals resolve and the Finals take shape.
1. New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs
Home-court advantage: Spurs Regular-season series: Knicks 2-1 (counting NBA Cup final)
In 1999, in his age-22 season, Tim Duncan won Finals MVP in Madison Square Garden. This was a very different era of basketball; the average final score in that Finals was Spurs 85, Knicks 80.
But 27 years later, could history repeat itself as another 22-year-old Spurs center wins Finals MVP against the Knicks?
Victor Wembanyama's potential to follow in Duncan's footsteps -- and to show his unique skill set on a national stage at MSG -- is one of the three main reasons to be excited about this potential Finals matchup. The second is that a repeat of the NBA Cup final from December could add more excitement to that event in future years.
And the third, of course, is the Knicks' chance to win their first title in generations. The other three teams in the conference finals have won a title in the past dozen years -- but Knicks fans have been waiting since 1973.