Spending the week running every victory lap they can, the New York Knicks gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a thin slice of credit for their NBA championship. Josh Hart validated folks’ feelings that the San Antonio Spurs were too focused on one opponent.
In a Roommates Show special just the day after their championship parade, Hart reflected on the Knicks’ unprecedented run to the Larry O’Brien trophy. They went a historic 16-3 to cross the finish line, with mostly blowout wins. It was one of the most dominating performances in postseason history.
To add to the confusion, nothing about the regular season suggested the Knicks were capable of such a run. They were a meh 53-29 in the regular season. They had a nine-game losing streak at one point. They failed to reach Phil Jackson’s golden rule of 40 wins before 20 losses.
Despite all that, some sorta switch flip to turn them into an NBA playoff win machine. And that didn’t stop at the 2026 NBA Finals — when the consensus penciled them as the underdog against either the Thunder or Spurs. For most people, the 2026 Western Conference Finals was the true championship series. The epic seven-game series featured two 60-win juggernauts.
But that’s why the games are played on the court instead of on paper. The Knicks won in five games. And all four of their wins followed the same script — fall behind by double-digit points before late-game heroics helped them sneak away with clutch-time wins.
Hart was part of New York’s special run. He averaged 10.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the NBA playoffs. He also turned out to be a helluva fortune teller. As Victor Wembanyama shed tears and covered his Spurs teammates in hugs after surviving a Game 7 win over the Thunder, the Knicks starter knew how’d the NBA Finals would shake out.
“You see that reaction because they think they’re gonna win it,” Hart said. “They think it’s over.”
It’s funny to hear an actual Knicks player say that thought out loud. Of course, NBA Twitter has run home with that theory. Calling beating OKC as the San Antonio’s ‘Super Bowl’ and all that. There was always a layer of humor involved with it, though. But now, Hart has legitimized those thoughts.
On a team filled with a bunch of guys under 24 years old, it feels like the Spurs thought they’d have a cakewalk to an NBA championship. Instead, their youth and inexperience finally caught up to them at the biggest stage. With late-game meltdowns and infamously blowing a 29-point lead.
“You see that reaction because they think they gon’ win it. They think it’s over.”
Josh Hart spoke about the Knicks watching the Spurs celebrate after beating OKC 👀@Roommates__Show special episode from MSG | 10 ET on ESPN and the ESPN App 🗽 pic.twitter.com/Cg8VFpem6o
— ESPN (@espn) June 20, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Josh Hart reveals how Thunder helped Knicks win NBA championship
