NEW YORK, June 14 (Our New York News) — The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973, closing a 53-year title gap with a 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 14, 2026.
The result, recorded in the NBA’s official game and series records and reflected in the league box score, gave New York the best-of-seven series 4-1. It is the Knicks’ third NBA championship, according to NBA historical records.
Jalen Brunson led the championship-clinching game with 45 points, the Game 5 box score shows. That scoring total was the clearest individual mark in the records reviewed for this report and served as the central performance in a four-point win that finished the Finals on the Spurs’ home court in San Antonio.
The title changes the standing of one of New York City’s longest-running sports droughts. Before Sunday night, the Knicks had not won the championship since 1973. Their previous trip to the NBA Finals came in 1999, when league Finals records show they lost to San Antonio in five games.
This time, the same series margin went the other way. New York took four of five games from the Spurs, ending the series before it could return to Madison Square Garden for a Game 6.
The Game 5 win also followed a Finals marked by late-game swings. In Game 4, NBA game records cited in national and international accounts show the Knicks came back from a 29-point deficit at Madison Square Garden. Those accounts described it as the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, though the direct NBA historical comparison was not available in the records reviewed for this article.
In Game 5, the Knicks also trailed by double digits before rallying, according to accounts based on the official play-by-play and game record. One account put the deficit at 16 points, but that exact figure could not be independently confirmed from a direct official play-by-play in the materials reviewed, so the verified finding is limited here to a double-digit rally.
In New York City, the win immediately became a civic event. The Associated Press and other on-scene accounts reported celebrations outside Madison Square Garden and elsewhere in the city after the final buzzer. The records reviewed did not include official crowd estimates, police totals, arrest numbers or injury reports.
City government is now involved in the next public step. The mayor’s office announced a ticker-tape parade and City Hall ceremony for Thursday, according to accounts citing the city announcement and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public post on X. Reuters reported that Mamdani marked the win with the word, “HISTORY.”
The documented result is straightforward: Knicks 94, Spurs 90; Knicks win the series 4-1; Brunson scores 45; New York wins its first NBA championship in 53 years and its third overall, according to NBA records.
