NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings should feel simple at 2-1. The team ahead usually controls the award. The star on the winning side usually owns the cleanest path. Yet San Antonio’s 115-111 Game 3 punch at Madison Square Garden cracked that logic wide open.
Victor Wembanyama did not merely keep the Spurs alive. He changed the temperature of the series. He finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals, and every number came with a little smoke. Rookie guard Stephon Castle backed him with 23 points and five assists, giving San Antonio the second blade it badly needed.
Still, New York has the edge. Karl-Anthony Towns has shaped both Knicks wins with rebounding, spacing and frontcourt force. Jalen Brunson remains the player New York trusts when the clock turns cruel.
So the question grows sharper now: who actually leads the Bill Russell Trophy race midway through Knicks vs. Spurs?
The MVP race is wide open
The Knicks lead the series. Wembanyama owns the momentum. That tension drives these NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings.
Towns still has the strongest case because New York has won two of the first three games. He averages 16.7 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, and his impact stretches beyond the box score, He pulls bigs from the rim, He gives Brunson room to operate, He helps New York survive the minutes when San Antonio’s length turns the paint into a maze.
Wembanyama has the louder statistical profile. Through three games, he sits at 29 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. Those are not empty numbers. You can see his control when Brunson drives into the lane, sees that impossible wingspan rising, and kicks to the corner instead of floating his usual teardrop.
Brunson complicates everything. He has not shot the ball with peak efficiency, but he has owned the late-game emotional space. A Finals MVP case often starts with a team’s best player. Sometimes, though, it hardens around the player everyone fears most with 40 seconds left.
Finals MVP voters care about three things: team control, defining moments and the eye test. You do not win the award by padding numbers in a dead stretch. You win it by hitting the shot that stops a 10-0 run, ripping away the rebound that kills a comeback, or making the defensive play that leaves a building silent.
That is the lens for these NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings.
The coaching chess match under the star debate
The star race has another layer now. The coaches have started tugging at the rotation threads.
New York’s staff has leaned into size, force and the old playoff truth that a series shrinks as it gets tighter. Robinson’s minutes change the rebounding math. Hart’s minutes change the physical tone. Anunoby’s minutes let the Knicks survive defensive cross-matches without sending help too early.
San Antonio has answered by staggering creation more aggressively. Fox can push bench groups before the Knicks set their shell. Castle gives the Spurs a downhill guard who does not need Wembanyama to spoon-feed him. Harper gives the second unit more calm than a rookie should have in June.
That matters for the NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings because awards rarely grow only from starting-lineup minutes. They often come from those awkward stretches when one superstar sits and the game starts to tilt. If New York’s bench holds serve, Towns and Brunson benefit. If San Antonio’s young guards win the non-Wembanyama minutes, Wembanyama’s case gains oxygen.
The margins have narrowed. The rotation math now feels as important as the shot chart.
The ten players shaping the Bill Russell Trophy chase
10. Mitchell Robinson New York Knicks
Mitchell Robinson will not win Finals MVP unless this series takes a wild turn. Still, New York’s identity needs his fingerprints.
Robinson’s value lives in the dirty work. He screens with force. He crashes the glass without apology, He turns loose balls into wrestling matches. When the Knicks miss, he gives them one more swing. Against a San Antonio team built around Wembanyama’s reach, that extra swing can feel like oxygen.
His clearest route to importance comes on the offensive glass. New York cannot waste possessions in a series where every game has lived inside pressure. The first three scores — 105-95, 105-104 and 115-111 — show how narrow the margins have become. One extra rebound can flip a quarter. One tip-out can turn a stalled possession into a Brunson three.
The coaching layer helps him. New York can use Robinson as a battering ram in shorter bursts, especially when San Antonio tries to buy rest for Wembanyama or hide a smaller bench lineup. Those minutes may not produce a glossy stat line, but they can grind down the Spurs’ second unit.
Robinson’s blue-collar approach fits Madison Square Garden perfectly. That crowd does not need elegance from him. It wants collisions. It wants second jumps, It wants the sound of a Spurs big getting sealed under the rim.
He sits at No. 10 because the trophy usually avoids specialists. New York still needs his specialty badly.
9. Mikal Bridges New York Knicks
Mikal Bridges entered the Finals as one of New York’s safest bets. His Game 2 performance backed that belief. Then Game 3 reminded everyone how quickly the award race can punish silence.
Bridges gave the Knicks 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in Game 2. He shot cleanly, moved the ball early and spaced the floor well enough to make San Antonio think twice about loading up on Brunson. When Bridges hits from the corners, New York’s offense breathes.
Game 3 went the other way. He scored only two points and vanished from the closing stretch. That cannot happen again if he wants to climb this list.
Even when his shot betrays him, coaches trust Bridges to stabilize the floor. He guards without gambling, He keeps possessions organized, He rarely hijacks the offense. That makes him valuable, but it also limits his MVP ceiling.
The rotation wrinkle is important. New York can stagger Bridges with bench-heavy groups because he does not need the ball to make them functional. He gives those lineups shape. He buys Brunson a few calmer possessions, He keeps the floor from getting cramped when Hart and Robinson share minutes.
Bridges needs one loud night to change the conversation. Until then, he remains the kind of player who helps win a ring without owning the ring’s headline.
8. Josh Hart New York Knicks
Josh Hart plays like every loose ball insulted him personally.
In Game 2, that edge showed up in the margins. Hart chased a long rebound through traffic, ripped it away near the sideline, and helped New York bleed another possession from a game decided by one point. That is his value. He turns chaos into inventory.
Hart’s playoff durability and defensive metrics keep his MVP hopes alive, even if the scoring numbers do not scream. He rebounds from the guard spot, He guards bigger wings, He absorbs contact and keeps moving. Some players look drained by June. Hart looks irritated that the night might end.
The problem is simple. Finals MVP voters want a player who bends the scoreboard. Hart bends the possession count. That distinction matters.
His minutes also reveal how New York wants to manage the series. When the Knicks need more speed around Towns, Hart gives them a smaller, nastier look. When they need to survive non-Brunson minutes, he can initiate just enough action to prevent the offense from turning into panic.
The Garden feeds off that. Hart dives, and the crowd rises. He muscles inside for a board among taller bodies, and teammates slap his chest. His best plays feel less like highlights and more like sparks thrown from a grinder.
New York does not need Hart to chase the trophy. It needs him to keep kicking the door while someone else reaches for it.
7. De’Aaron Fox San Antonio Spurs
De’Aaron Fox still looks strange in silver and black to anyone who remembers him flying through Sacramento for years. That is exactly why his role matters. San Antonio did not add him as decoration. The Spurs brought in the veteran trade prize to accelerate the Wembanyama timeline.
Fox gives this roster a different pulse. Wembanyama can freeze a defense with size. Fox slices it with pace. When he turns the corner, New York’s bigs have to retreat. When he pulls up from midrange, the Knicks have to respect the sudden stop. His speed forces panic before the help defense gets set.
Game 3 gave Fox his best argument. He hit a clutch jumper late, helping San Antonio finish off the 115-111 win and dragging the Spurs back into the series. That shot mattered because it relieved Wembanyama of having to solve every possession.
The Spurs’ staff has found more ways to let Fox breathe without turning the offense into a tug-of-war. Pair him with Castle, and San Antonio gets two drivers. Pair him with Harper, and the second unit has enough handling to attack before New York locks into its half-court defense, Pair him with Wembanyama, and every high screen becomes a panic test.
Fox needs more than one late jumper. He needs a full control game. A 25-point, eight-assist night in a Spurs win would rip his case out of the supporting tier.
For now, he remains the series’ most dangerous accelerant.
6. Dylan Harper San Antonio Spurs
Dylan Harper’s best moment came before most fans had adjusted to the idea of him looking comfortable on this stage.
Late in Game 2, Harper did not play like a young guard trying to survive. He attacked. He made three fourth-quarter shots, He found Wembanyama for a key basket that briefly pushed San Antonio in front. The Knicks eventually stole the night, but Harper left something behind: proof that he could function inside Finals heat.
Through the first two games, Harper averaged 15.5 points, seven rebounds and two assists while shooting better than 54 percent. More importantly, he committed only two turnovers across heavy minutes. For a young guard in the Finals, that is not a footnote. That is poise under a blowtorch.
His scoring has not defined the series. His calm has.
That calm matters most when the benches come in. San Antonio cannot afford empty minutes while Wembanyama rests or works away from the ball. Harper gives those lineups a pressure release. He can bring the ball up, enter offense, crash the glass and punish a careless closeout.
New York has started testing him with more bodies near the nail, daring him to make quick reads instead of clean drives. So far, he has not looked rushed. That changes the Spurs’ rotation ceiling.
Harper ranks sixth in these NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings because his case still needs a signature win. The Spurs already trust him with minutes that do not feel like rookie minutes.
5. Stephon Castle San Antonio Spurs
Stephon Castle smashed through the rookie wall in Game 3.
His 23 points, five rebounds and five assists gave San Antonio the secondary force it desperately needed. More than that, he played with a grown-up edge. He did not drift to the corner and wait for Wembanyama to rescue the offense. He cut, attacked, defended and kept his shoulders square when the Garden noise swelled.
Castle also carried real defensive weight. Brunson makes defenders pay for leaning wrong. One shoulder bump can create a jumper. One late hand can draw a foul. Castle had to fight through that rhythm while still producing on the other end.
That two-way load strengthens his case.
His Game 3 line put him in rare Finals youth territory. Only Magic Johnson and Tony Parker were younger when posting a 20-5-5 Finals game. That kind of company does not hand him the trophy, but it changes how the series frames him.
San Antonio’s bench planning has also elevated Castle. The Spurs can use him as a connector with Wembanyama or a tone-setter with Fox-led groups. He cuts well enough to punish ball-watching. He defends well enough to stay on the floor when New York hunts matchups.
The Spurs have spent this run proving they are not just Wembanyama and prayers. Castle has become the loudest proof.
4. OG Anunoby New York Knicks
OG Anunoby defined his series in Game 2 when he threw down a dunk over Wembanyama, forcing the league’s most terrifying rim protector to feel human for a second.
That play mattered because few players challenge Wembanyama directly. Most calculate. Some retreat. Anunoby attacked. The dunk did not just add two points. It gave the Knicks a rare visual win against the one player who can make the whole floor feel smaller.
Anunoby averages 20.7 points, four rebounds and 1.3 assists, while shooting 54.3 percent through three games. Those numbers give him a serious case. His defense gives him an even better one.
He guards wings. He switches onto guards, He absorbs contact without turning every possession into a drama. On offense, he punishes late closeouts with hard drives and corner threes. His game carries no wasted motion.
The Knicks also use him as their tactical hinge. When San Antonio goes smaller around Wembanyama, Anunoby can slide up and keep New York switchable, When Fox starts hunting speed advantages, Anunoby can take a turn on the ball, When Castle gets downhill, he gives New York another strong body at the point of contact.
That versatility keeps him on the floor during the game’s most uncomfortable stretches. It also keeps his MVP case alive. He does not need to become Brunson. He only needs one more two-way masterpiece.
3. Jalen Brunson New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson owns the Garden’s nervous system.
When he walks the ball up late, the noise changes. Fans do not just cheer. They lean forward. San Antonio’s defenders feel it too. They brace for the shoulder bump, the pivot, the sudden rise into a jumper that looks blocked until it drops.
Brunson averages 27.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists through three games. That scoring line gives him the cleanest superstar case on the Knicks. His efficiency has lagged, though. He opened the series shooting 19-for-56, which keeps him from the top spot for now.
Still, Finals MVP voters remember nerve.
Brunson scored the eventual winning points in both of New York’s first two victories. That matters more than a tidy percentage. A player can miss all night and still own the game’s final emotional truth. Brunson has done that.
San Antonio knows it, which explains the rotation pressure around him. The Spurs have thrown Castle at him for strength, Fox at him for speed, and longer help near the elbows to crowd his preferred footwork. They want Brunson giving the ball up one pass earlier. They want someone else making the final read.
New York has countered by spacing Towns higher and using Bridges or Anunoby as release valves. That keeps Brunson from seeing the same wall every trip.
His path to No. 1 remains clear. One more late-game takeover, and the whole race tilts toward the smallest star on the floor.
2. Victor Wembanyama San Antonio Spurs
Victor Wembanyama changes decisions before the ball leaves a player’s hand.
You can see it when Brunson turns the corner, reaches the paint, spots that enormous frame rising near the dotted line, and kicks to the corner instead of taking his teardrop. You can see it when Towns pump-fakes twice, waiting for a body that never quite commits. Wembanyama does not need to block every shot. His threat blocks the first idea.
His production has matched the fear. Through three games, he averages 29 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks. In Game 3, he delivered 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in a season-saving win at Madison Square Garden.
That was his defining Finals moment so far. Down 2-0, on the road, with the Knicks ready to take full control, Wembanyama answered like a superstar who understood the temperature of the room.
San Antonio has also started using him with more tactical patience. Instead of forcing every touch through the low post, the Spurs have let him catch at the elbow, trail into threes and operate as a passer against early help. That matters because New York wants to load bodies toward him. If he sees the floor early, Castle, Fox and Harper get downhill chances before the defense resets.
The only thing holding him back is the series score. San Antonio still trails 2-1. Finals MVP usually lives on the winning side, and voters almost never break that habit.
Wembanyama has already made the Finals look physically different. Now he needs the scoreboard to catch up with the spectacle.
1. Karl-Anthony Towns New York Knicks
Karl-Anthony Towns leads the NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings because his case has the most complete shape right now.
The Knicks lead 2-1. Towns has driven both wins. He averages 16.7 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, but the numbers only tell part of the story. His spacing pulls San Antonio’s size away from the rim, His rebounding gives New York control when the game gets ragged, His passing punishes help when the Spurs crowd Brunson.
Game 2 gave him the historical marker. On the road in San Antonio, Towns became the first Knick since Dave DeBusschere in 1973 to record a 20-point double-double in a Finals road game. That detail matters because it ties this run to the last era when New York basketball owned June instead of chasing it.
The timeline lines up cleanly. The Knicks stole control in San Antonio. Then the Spurs answered in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. Now the series has tension, and Towns has to respond.
New York’s staff has leaned into Towns as more than a scorer. They have used him above the break to drag Wembanyama away from the rim, They have let him facilitate when San Antonio sends help from the corners, They have paired him with Robinson for blunt-force rebounding, then loosened the floor with Anunoby and Hart when the Spurs go smaller.
Those choices reveal why his case still holds. Towns gives New York multiple versions of itself. It can play big. It can spread the floor, It can grind, It can let Brunson hunt while Towns bends the back line of the defense.
Brunson may close the biggest possessions. Wembanyama may own the biggest talent advantage. But Towns has been the most valuable player on the team currently ahead.
That is enough for No. 1 barely.
The next game may decide the shape of the race
The NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings could look completely different after Game 4.
A Towns bounce-back performance would steady the race. If he gives New York 24 points, 13 rebounds and a win, his case becomes harder to shake. The Knicks would lead 3-1, and voters would naturally look toward the frontcourt star who helped create that gap.
A Brunson eruption could flip everything. Give him 35 points, a late dagger and a 3-1 lead, and the award might become his by morning. New York loves Towns’ balance, but it lives for Brunson’s closing theater.
Wembanyama owns the most explosive path. If San Antonio ties the series behind another monster night, the conversation stops circling Towns and starts orbiting Wembanyama. The numbers already support him. The visuals support him. The only missing piece is control of the series.
The benches may decide which star gets that control. Robinson’s rebounding can turn missed Knicks shots into slow torture. Hart can keep smaller lineups alive. Castle and Harper can win the young-guard minutes that San Antonio needs whenever Fox or Wembanyama sits. Those shifts will not all make the highlight reel, but they will shape the trophy race before the final shot arrives.
That makes these NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings feel less like a list and more like a weather report. The pressure keeps moving. One quarter can shift the wind.
For now, Towns leads because New York leads. Brunson lurks because every close game bends toward him. Wembanyama threatens because his ceiling keeps pressing against the roof of the series.
The trophy has not chosen its owner yet. It has only narrowed the room.
Also Read: NBA Finals 2026: Knicks Grit can expose San Antonio’s Youth
FAQs
Q. Who leads the NBA Finals MVP Power Rankings after Game 3?
Karl-Anthony Towns leads by a narrow edge. The Knicks lead 2-1, and Towns has shaped both New York wins.
Q. Why is Victor Wembanyama not No. 1?
Wembanyama has the loudest numbers, but San Antonio still trails. Finals MVP usually follows the team in control.
Q. Can Jalen Brunson still win Finals MVP?
Yes. Brunson owns New York’s late-game trust. One more closing takeover could swing the race fast.
Q. Why do bench rotations matter in the Finals MVP race?
Bench minutes can decide which star controls the game. Robinson, Hart, Castle and Harper all shape those pressure stretches.
Q. What changed after Spurs-Knicks Game 3?
Wembanyama dragged San Antonio back into the series. His Game 3 performance turned the MVP race from steady to volatile.
Calling out bad takes. Living for the game and the post-game drama.
