The San Antonio Spurs beat the underdog Knicks by 89-77 in San Antonio to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, and scored a record 11th straight playoff victory.

The injury-ridden Knicks could find no answer to the scoring of San Antonio's two big men, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. The Knicks' star cente, Patrick Ewing, is out for the championship series with a torn ligament.

Taking full advantage, centre Tim Duncan had an outstanding game, scoring 33 points, with 16 rebounds, while fellow seven foot forward David Robinson had 13 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.

Robinson's assists were a sign that the Spurs had succeeded in their 'inside-outside' game, as the big men passed the ball out to their shooting guards when the Knicks tried double-teaming them in the paint.

Jaren Jackson came off the bench to hurt the Knicks, scoring five three-point shots to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Mis-matches

Knicks forward Larry Johnson, coming off a knee injury, was clearly over-matched playing Tim Duncan one-on-one in the first quarter.

"He's a little shorter than I am and I thought I could get some shots over him," said Duncan after the game.

Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy agreed.

"They have great size and strength and quickness in the post. We're going to have to have some better answers. We've got to play aggressively, hopefully without being in foul trouble."

The Knicks' big men were dogged by foul trouble, especially forward Marcus Camby, whose play had helped propel the Knicks to the finals.

He quickly gained five fouls and ended up playing less than half the game.

Nor could the Knicks's key scorers, small forward Latrell Sprewell and guard Allan Houston, connect to the basket.

In the fourth quarter they combined to score only 5 points.

Back to New York

The series resumes in San Antonio at the Alomodome on Friday before a week-long stretch of games at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks, the first eighth-seeded team to make the finals, have something to prove.

"I think it makes us more hungry," said Houston. "You can't expect to just go out and win every Game 1 just because it's been done in the past."