The New York Knicks are NBA champions after a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5, breaking a 53-year title drought. New York rallied from a double-digit deficit in the deciding game to secure the championship, according to the report.
Jalen Brunson led the charge with 45 points, adding three rebounds, three assists and two steals in what the report called the game of his life. The Knicks’ previous championship came on May 10, 1973, when they defeated Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, a club that featured Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe and Phil Jackson.
It had been 19,392 days since New York last won an NBA title, a span of 53 years, according to the report.
The world looked much different in 1973. In football, the Miami Dolphins completed the only undefeated NFL season with a 14-7 victory over Washington in Super Bowl VII; Miami scored on a 28-yard reception by Howard Twilley and a 1-yard touchdown run by Jim Kick, while Washington returned a fumble 49 yards for a score in the fourth quarter. Dolphins figures included coach Don Shula and first-team All-Pro players such as Earl Morrall, Larry Little, Bill Stanfill and Dick Anderson, according to the report.
On the cultural front, The Godfather, released in March 1972, won three Oscars at the 45th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Writing. Elvis Presley’s 1973 television special “Aloha from Hawaii” was simulcast live to 40 countries and drew 1.5 billion viewers, according to IMDB. Horse racing saw Secretariat win the Kentucky Derby on May 6, 1973, in a record 1:59.40, followed by record victories in the Preakness and a 2:24 Belmont Stakes that completed the Triple Crown — the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. Soul Train was in its second season and featured performances by Aretha Franklin, with The Supremes and Lloyd Price appearing shortly after the Knicks’ title, according to the report.
