The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973.
Jalen Brunson scored 45 points Saturday night to carry New York past the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. The Knicks took the series 4-1 and ended a 53 year championship drought, the longest active title gap in the league.
It was another comeback win for a team that made it a habit all postseason. The Spurs built a 16 point lead in the first quarter and held a 42-37 advantage at halftime. New York scored just 13 points in the opening period. For most of the first half, it looked like San Antonio would force a Game 6.
That changed in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks outscored the Spurs 29-18 in the final period. Brunson, who had been chipping away all game, took over down the stretch. He finished 14 of 27 from the field, 4 of 7 from three, and 13 of 15 from the free throw line. He scored nearly half of New York's total output by himself.
New York did not take its first lead of the second half until roughly two minutes remained in the fourth quarter. The Spurs had a chance to extend their season in the final seconds but ran out of timeouts and could not convert.
Knicks Supporting Cast Held Firm
Beyond Brunson, the rest of the Knicks roster had a rough shooting night. The team shot 35.6% from the field overall and 32.4% from three point range. But the supporting pieces did enough in other areas.
Josh Hart posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, including three made threes. Mikal Bridges added 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with four assists. OG Anunoby finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals while taking on the bulk of San Antonio's defensive attention.
Mitchell Robinson grabbed 10 rebounds, six on the offensive glass, giving New York critical second-chance possessions. Karl Anthony Towns had an ugly scoring night just 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting, but pulled down 10 rebounds, recorded 3 steals, and played physical interior defense before fouling out late.
The Knicks went 20 of 28 from the free throw line compared to 12 of 19 for the Spurs. That nine point gap from the stripe proved decisive in a four point game.
Spurs Youth Showed — and So Did Its Limits
Rookie Dylan Harper led San Antonio with 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting, the best individual effort on the Spurs side. But Harper missed a pair of layups in the final minutes that could have changed the outcome.
Victor Wembanyama recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds to go with 5 blocked shots. He shot 7 of 19 from the field, including 1 of 6 from three point range. The 7 foot 5 center altered several shots at the rim but could not generate enough offense to offset the team's cold shooting around him.
The Spurs' backcourt struggled badly. Stephon Castle scored just 6 points on 1 of 10 shooting. De'Aaron Fox had 7 points on 3 of 15 from the field and picked up a flagrant foul. Julian Champagnie contributed 14 points and hit 4 threes but committed 4 turnovers.
San Antonio shot 38.4% from the floor and 32.4% from deep. The Spurs committed 13 turnovers, leading to 18 Knicks points off those giveaways.
By the Numbers
Stat Knicks Spurs Final Score 94 90 FG% 35.6% 38.4% 3PT% 32.4% 32.4% FT% 71.4% 63.2% Rebounds 66 59 Assists 14 18 Turnovers 14 13 Points in Paint 30 38 Biggest Lead 4 16
Scoring by Quarter:
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final NYK 13 24 28 29 94 SAS 23 19 30 18 90
Top Performers
New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson: 45 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL (14-27 FG, 4-7 3PT, 13-15 FT)
Mikal Bridges: 14 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST (5-10 FG, 3-7 3PT)
Josh Hart: 13 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST (4-11 FG, 3-6 3PT)
OG Anunoby: 11 PTS, 8 REB, 3 STL, 1 BLK (3-11 FG)
Karl-Anthony Towns: 2 PTS, 10 REB, 3 STL, 1 BLK (1-7 FG)
Mitchell Robinson: 2 PTS, 10 REB (6 OREB)
San Antonio Spurs
Dylan Harper: 25 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST (10-19 FG, 2-4 3PT)
Victor Wembanyama: 19 PTS, 14 REB, 5 BLK (7-19 FG, 1-6 3PT)
Julian Champagnie: 14 PTS, 7 REB (5-9 FG, 4-8 3PT)
Devin Vassell: 12 PTS, 7 REB, 2 STL, 1 BLK (5-8 FG)
De'Aaron Fox: 7 PTS, 5 AST, 2 STL (3-15 FG)
Stephon Castle: 6 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST (1-10 FG)
What It Means
The Knicks finished the 2026 playoffs with a 16-1 record, winning 15 of their final 16 games. They swept the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals before closing out San Antonio in five.
Head coach Mike Brown, hired last summer to replace Tom Thibodeau, delivered a title in his first season with New York. Brown previously coached LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals and won four championships as an assistant coach.
Brunson, who averaged 26 points and 6.8 assists per game during the regular season, set a Knicks franchise record for points scored in a Finals game. He was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP after the sweep of Cleveland and is the leading candidate for the Bill Russell Finals MVP award.
For the Spurs, the run was a significant step forward. San Antonio, seeded second in the West with a 62-20 regular season record, beat Portland, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City to reach the Finals. Their young core led by the 22-year-old Wembanyama and rookie Harper held double-digit leads in all five Finals games. But the Spurs could not sustain those advantages against a more experienced opponent.
The Knicks' title is the franchise's third overall and first since the Willis Reed and Walt Frazier era. New York had not appeared in the NBA Finals since a five-game loss to the Spurs in 1999.