The wait is over. The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973, ending a 53-year drought with a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. For a franchise, a fan base, and a city that has carried this weight across more than half a century, Saturday night was everything.
Jalen Brunson scored 45 points — a Knicks record for points in an NBA Finals game, surpassing the 38 Willis Reed scored against the Lakers in 1970 — and was named Finals MVP. He was named the Most Valuable Player. He broke down in tears at the final buzzer. “Holy s—,” he told a reporter on the sideline immediately after. “I’ve got no words. Everything I ever dreamed of.”
The Knicks did it the hard way — again. They trailed by 16 points in the first half after managing only 13 points in the opening quarter, missing 16 of their first 18 shots, and failing to convert any of their first 11 two-point attempts. San Antonio became the first team in the play-by-play era to hold double-digit first-quarter leads in all five Finals games. It did not matter. Brunson scored 13 consecutive points in the fourth quarter. New York completed the comeback. The Spurs — the same franchise that defeated the Knicks in the 1999 Finals — had no answer for what happened next.
The Road That Led Here
The Knicks finished the regular season 53-29 as the Eastern Conference’s third seed. They opened the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks in a competitive six-game series, winning the final three games to advance. From there, the steamroller started. Philadelphia fell in four games. The Cleveland Cavaliers, fresh off their own memorable season, were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals. Suddenly, New York was back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 — and facing the exact franchise that had denied them the title that year.
The revenge narrative wrote itself. The Knicks won three of the first four games of the Finals, including Game 4 — a victory that featured the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. It gave them a 3-1 lead and the chance to clinch on the road. Game 5 gave them the trophy.
Mikal Bridges contributed 14 points. Josh Hart added 13. Karl-Anthony Towns won an NBA championship for the first time. Mitchell Robinson came up with a crucial offensive rebound in the final minute when New York needed it most. It was a team effort in the fullest sense — built over years, not overnight.
For San Antonio, rookie Dylan Harper led the scoring with 25 points. Victor Wembanyama added 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks. The Spurs gave everything they had. It was not enough.
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The City That Erupted
The Knicks celebrated in Texas, but New York did not wait for them to come home. Thousands gathered at watch parties across the city — at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and Central Park. Fans flooded the streets of Manhattan. Chants echoed through neighbourhoods that had been waiting for this moment for 53 years. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted one word on social media: “HISTORY.”
Knicks legends who never won a title during their playing careers were in San Antonio to watch it happen. Patrick Ewing, who came closest in 1994 and 1999, was emotional on the floor. Walt Frazier and John Starks were there. Charles Oakley and Allan Houston. The people who built the franchise’s identity across the decades, who endured every heartbreak, were present when the drought finally ended.
The Knicks return to New York for a championship parade on Thursday. After 53 years, they have earned every second of it.
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