Karl-Anthony Towns says he felt late mother’s presence in NBA Finals Game 1

The pressure and anticipation of the NBA Finals is felt all 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 a peace” despite what was at stake in Game 1 on Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio against the Spurs.

The reason for his serenity through the chaos? His mother.

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Towns’ mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died in April 2020 because of complications from COVID-19. But while she wasn’t in the stands for her 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, had to be coming from the woman above,” Towns said to the “Inside The NBA” crew on ESPN after the Knicks’ 105-95 win 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 out here. This is something that, as a kid, you always dream about. You always hope to be an NBA player, let alone be in the NBA Finals. All day, it was just a weird feeling. It 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 I was seeing her in the stands, and it was really fun. It was really comforting.

Towns admitted it felt odd because he has been told what the NBA Finals is going to be like in terms of pressure and need for execution. But the ability to play free and without any doubt helped him, especially when the Knicks were down.

Jacqueline Cruz, mother of Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, died May 16 in Minneapolis after a weeks-long battle with COVID-19. She was 59. The photo shows Cruz with Towns during his official NBA Rookie of the Year pictures in 2016. (Brian Peterson/Star Tribune)

While it was Jalen Brunson hitting a dagger mid-range jumper late in the fourth quarter to virtually seal victory for the Knicks, it was Towns making things happen in the third quarter to erase a 14-point deficit to allow New York the opportunity for yet another comeback in the NBA Playoffs.

Towns was creating second-chance buckets for the Knicks, while playing stellar defense on Spurs star Victor Wembanyama to get momentum swinging back to his team’s bench. At one point, Towns was huffing and puffing, clearly gassed after giving his all in the quarter.

Towns finished the game with 18 points and 12 rebounds for another double-double in the playoffs, while recording four assists and one block. He shot 7-of-15 from the field, and even admitted after the game 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 necessary buckets on the other end to close out a 10-point win.

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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The victory marked the 12th straight for the Knicks, as their playoff run has been truly remarkable to watch on their way to the NBA Finals. They will look for lucky number 13 on Friday night in Game 2 against the Spurs before returning to Madison Square Garden next week.

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