Anyone who’s seen a 48-minute game of NBA basketball stretch to 2 and a half hours has faced the same question: what to do during downtime and not cool off for the game? The NBA Finals Knicks vs Spurs will be no different.
A few crazy moments of action punctuated by endless commercial breaks, media timeouts, and constant whistle stops, particularly late in the game. When Jalen Brunson starts sinking those threes that force timeouts early in quarters, or when a timeout is called after a monstrous Wemby block, you are inevitably going to face endless breaks.
But don’t despair. Here’s what to do to keep yourself fired up for the Finals.
Find Something To Exercise the Brain
The best thing to do is keep the competitive ball rolling. If you sink into your couch and scroll mindlessly through social media during a five-minute official review, your focus dies with the action on screen. Keeping the brain sharp is imperative.
To prevent yourself from drifting off, something like solitaire online will keep your brain firing in the exact same spatial patterns as the athletes on screen. The best thing about it? Free solitaire is a game that you can pick up, play a round, break mid-round, and take up as if nothing happened. The game is incredibly easy to pick up after a break.
See the 2025-26 NBA Season’s Highlights
Both Knicks vs Spurs tips have had their ups and downs to get to the Finals. The Knicks practically steamrolled the Eastern Conference with consecutive sweeps, while the young Spurs just survived an absolute seven-game war against the top-seeded Thunder.
Use the longer commercial stretches — like the mandatory media timeouts at the start of the second and fourth quarters — to pull up short highlight reels from earlier rounds. Watching Wembanyama’s insane defensive stops against Minnesota or Brunson’s fourth-quarter takeovers against Cleveland is the next best thing after the championship matchup.
Or move beyond the matchup to watch the top 10 videos from season 2025/26. There were some absolutely ridiculous moments from SGA, Jokic, Anthony Edwards and more that will keep you fired up for more action.
Revisit the Last Finals Between Knicks vs Spurs
History loves a rematch, and this series is a historic throwback to the iconic 1999 NBA Finals. That was the year a young Tim Duncan won his very first championship by defeating an underdog eighth-seeded New York squad in five games.
Before the game starts or during the extended halftime show, pull up classic archival footage of that 1999 series. Watch as the twin towers of Tim Duncan and David Robinson dominate the frontcourt. Games 3 and 5 are the standouts, both going down to the wire as teams split the loot.
Comparing the physical, slow-paced, paint-heavy battles of the late 90s to the high-velocity, three-point-heavy schemes being played on the hardwood right now is the ultimate way to appreciate how far both franchises have come to meet on the grandest stage once again.
Stay Locked In
With the Knicks fighting to break a 53-year championship drought and the Spurs looking to crown Victor Wembanyama as the new king of the NBA, this blockbuster series is not one you want to doze off during. The endless parade of whistle stops and media timeouts might try to kill the energy in your living room, but your game night doesn’t have to stall out.
By keeping your strategic brain sharp with a quick solitaire game online or fueling your hype with modern highlights and 1999 throwback footage, you can stay completely locked in.
Main image credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
