- The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to capture their first NBA championship in 53 years.
- The Knicks clinched the best-of-seven NBA Finals series 4-1.
- In all four of their victories, New York rallied from double-digit deficits. On Sunday, they trailed by 16 points
Sensational NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson scored 45 points to inspire the New York Knicks as they rallied from behind once again on Sunday morning to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 and capture their first NBA title in 53 years.
The Knicks won the best-of-seven championship series 4-1, denying Victor Wembanyama and his young Spurs teammates on their home floor to hoist the trophy for the first time since 1973.
Having recovered from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 to produce the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, the Knicks erased another double-digit gap to secure victory for the fourth time in the series.
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On Sunday, the deficit reached 16 points, but Brunson and the Knicks were never rattled.
“I have no words,” Brunson said during the on-court celebration. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”
Brunson fittingly finished with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in an NBA Finals game, surpassing the previous mark of 38 set by Willis Reed against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 Finals.
The record now belongs to the left-handed point guard who transformed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.
Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, the other members of the famed “Nova Knicks” trio alongside Brunson, combined for 27 points.
The three former Villanova NCAA champions reunited in New York with the goal of replicating their collegiate success. Bridges contributed 14 points, while Hart added 13.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” Brunson said. “I’m in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to respond and prove them wrong.”
Dylan Harper scored 25 points for the Spurs, while Victor Wembanyama delivered 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks.
The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning every one of them on the road.
Yet it hardly felt like an away game, with thousands of New York faithful making the trip to Texas to witness a moment 53 years in the making.
New York moved to the brink of the title by storming back from 29 points down in Game 4 to claim a dramatic 107-106 victory on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining on Thursday morning.
It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and the biggest rally in any game this season, whether in the regular season or playoffs.
By comparison, overcoming a 16-point deficit in this contest seemed almost routine.
The game followed a familiar script in the opening stages, with the Spurs building a double-digit lead in the first quarter before watching much of it evaporate in the second.
San Antonio became the first team in the play-by-play era, which began in the 1996-97 season, to hold a lead of 10 points or more in the first quarter of five Finals games.
The Knicks simply could not find their rhythm offensively, missing 16 of their first 18 shots and all of their first 11 two-point attempts.
At one stage in the second quarter, Wembanyama had more blocked shots (five) than the Knicks had made field goals (four). San Antonio’s advantage stretched to 10 points in the first quarter and grew to as many as 16 in the second.
A 22-9 surge in the second quarter pulled New York within three points before Devin Vassell scored just before the halftime buzzer to give San Antonio a 42-37 lead at the break.
That capped a first half defined either by offensive struggles or defensive excellence, depending on your perspective. The combined 79 points were the fewest scored in the first half of an NBA Finals game since Game 7 of the Lakers-Celtics series in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Knicks and Spurs combined to shoot just 31.8% from the field, the lowest first-half shooting percentage in an NBA Finals game during the play-by-play era.