Though the New York Knicks may have been the first team to punch their ticket to the 2026 NBA Finals (typing this still doesn't feel real), they will inherently be at a disadvantage heading into the contest regardless of who they wind up facing.
Be it the OKC Thunder or San Antonio Spurs, whichever team represents the Western Conference in the championship round will have homecourt advantage, meaning New York will have to play the first two games outside of the Big Apple.
Despite this built-in inconvenience of having to kick things off while on the road, Knicks forward Mikal Bridges surprisingly believes it could be a great way for him and his well-rested teammates to "pick it up" right out of the gates following a long layover between rounds.
"I think it helps being on the road, a little bit. Being in a hostile environment, that should just get the mindset right off the jump," Bridges told reporters during Thursday's practice media session.
Fortunately for the Knicks, they've proven to be one of the best road teams throughout the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign, boasting a top-10 win percentage during the regular season and the number-one win percentage during this year's postseason (.857), when playing away from Seventh Avenue.
On top of this, throughout the playoffs, they've ranked number one in offensive rating (126.3), defensive rating (102.8), net rating (23.5), and point differential (22.9) when on the road, so even with this innate disadvantage, it seems from both a mental and, frankly, production standpoint, the Knicks are as well equipped as any team could possibly be to successfully kick things off in enemy territory.
History shows Knicks should already be preparing for Thunder
Though the Western Conference Finals is still technically underway and, in turn, the Knicks don't know who they'll be facing in the NBA Finals, history suggests that their opponent has already been decided.
With Oklahoma City winning Game 5 and officially taking a 3-2 series lead, their probablity of advancing is now roughly 81.8 percent, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In fact, teams throughout league history who have won Game 5 with a best-of-seven series tied up at 2-2 heading in have gone on to advance 76.4 percent of the time.
Now, granted, this is not to say a face-off between the Knicks and Thunder will be made official following their Game 6 bout on Thursday night. In fact, considering San Antonio will be playing host for the contest, the expectation is that this series will ultimately go the distance and extend all the way to a winner-take-all Game 7.
Of course, history suggests that even OKC is forced to play one more, they should be viewed as the overwhelming favorites to square off against the Knicks in title round.
Add us as a preferred source on Google