The New York Knicks closed out the NBA Finals with a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 to capture the franchise’s first championship in 53 years. Jalen Brunson led the way with 45 points and was named Finals MVP as New York completed another late comeback in the series.
San Antonio built early advantages repeatedly — the Spurs took a double-digit lead in the first quarter for the fifth time in the series — but the Knicks rallied late, marking the fourth comeback in five games where New York made the decisive plays down the stretch.
New York struggled for long stretches. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby dealt with foul trouble and combined for 13 points on 4-for-18 shooting, while the Knicks managed five made shots in the first 16 minutes as Victor Wembanyama blocked five attempts and New York turned the ball over nine times. Brunson, however, kept the offense afloat.
Brunson finished the postseason as the leading scorer in the playoffs at 28.4 points per game and delivered his signature performance in the clincher: 45 points on 14-for-27 shooting with 13-for-15 free-throw shooting. He scored 10 consecutive points early in the fourth quarter to pull New York even, added three after a Spurs jumper and hit the go-ahead 11-foot floater with 1:06 remaining. Brunson accounted for 48 percent of the Knicks’ points in Game 5, the second-highest share for any player in a closeout Finals game, according to ESPN Research.
The series saw Brunson expand his offensive repertoire — hitting from distance and the midrange, drawing three separate three-point fouls on Spurs defenders and repeatedly attacking the rim, even over Wembanyama. His single-game performance metric rose in each successive game of the Finals, peaking in the closeout.
The title also highlights an uncommon roster profile for a champion. Brunson has three All-NBA second-team honors but no first-team selections; Karl-Anthony Towns has three third-team nods. The length of New York’s drought — 53 years, the longest in league history — ensures the championship will resonate widely, and Brunson called the achievement “everything I ever dreamed of.”
