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SAN ANTONIO – The New York Knicks completed one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history Saturday night inside the Frost Bank Center, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to capture their first championship since 1973.
The only downside is that they didn’t win the clincher in front of the home fans at Madison Square Garden, but there were enough Knicks fans in San Antonio to make it feel like a New York City crowd at times.
New York entered the night with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to end 53 years of frustration. The Knicks completed a historic comeback in Game 4 to put themselves in the top bracket of basketball, and finish the job on Saturday night. As much as they would have liked to do it at home, the Knicks wouldn’t have given it a chance to win the NBA championship.
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The New York Knicks celebrate with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Game 5 started like every other game in the series, with San Antonio jumping out to an early lead. The Spurs won the first quarter for the fifth time in a row, and once again, the Knicks found themselves staring at a double-digit deficit.
New York scored just 13 points on 4-for-22 shooting in the first quarter, tied for second-fewest in the opening quarter of the NBA Finals in shooting time, according to ESPN. Only the 2016 Golden State Warriors, who scored 11 points in the first quarter of Game 6 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, had fewer.
But the Knicks did what they’ve done throughout the series.
After trailing by 16 points in the first half, New York cut the deficit to five points at halftime. A late foul call against Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox helped New York turn a one-point lead into a five-point lead with just over a minute left in the second quarter. The Knicks cut the lead to three, but Devin Vassell beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper.
Jalen Brunson scored 16 of New York’s 37 points in the first half, and Victor Wembanyama nearly had a double-double in the first 24 minutes with nine points and nine rebounds. However, the Knicks had a big problem right after the break. Karl-Anthony Towns, the team’s most influential big man, picked up his fourth foul just 15 seconds into the third quarter.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama sits on the floor after fouling out in the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the New York Knicks in San Antonio, Texas, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The impact was felt immediately as his replacement, Mitchell Robinson, committed a foul that allowed San Antonio to return the favor with a six-point run, extending the lead back to double digits.
Then came another twist: Brunson appeared to roll his ankle with 5:18 left in the third quarter. After scoring three points, Brunson fell at the feet of the Black. Both Brunson and Knicks coach Mike Brown scolded the referees for not calling Wembanyama, which could have been too close. Had the officials checked the highlight, it would have triggered a possible Game 6 automatic suspension, as it would have been his fourth highlight of the playoffs.
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Instead, the game continued, and Vassell responded with a 3-pointer at the other end. Brunson returned to the game immediately after New York’s timeout, but the momentum seemed to swing back to San Antonio as the Spurs later led by 15 points. Dylan Harper scored 10 of his 25 points in the third quarter.
But Brunson didn’t let that moment affect his performance. Once again, the star guard put the team on his back with Towns stuck on the bench in trouble, scoring 14 points in the third quarter to cut a seven-point lead into the fourth.
And Brunson wasn’t even close to doing it.
He scored at 4:48 to tie the game at 83 and give him 40 points. After the Spurs responded, Brunson drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with 3:40 left and hit all three free throws, giving the Knicks their first lead since the start of the first quarter. They pushed it to three, their biggest lead of the game, with 2:07 left in the tiebreaker.
The final minutes turned into chaos from there. Downs played badly, Wembanyama split two free throws, Harper tied the game, and Brunson responded with another basket to put the Knicks ahead.
Jalen Brunson (11) of the New York Knicks shoots the ball during Game Five against the San Antonio Spurs of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 2026. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
New York survived the scrimmage by controlling the glass and doing enough at the free throw line. Castle’s putback dunk cut the deficit to two with 16 seconds left, but Mikhal Bridges split the pair at the other end to give the Spurs the ball with eight seconds left, trailing by three.
The Knicks opted to foul instead of allowing San Antonio to try to string three together and the strategy worked as intended. Harper missed both free throws, the Knicks grabbed the rebound and that was all he scored.
Brunson scored 45 points, tied for the most three-pointers ever in an NBA Finals game.
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There will be time to find out what this means for San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama. Spurs are going nowhere with a roster built around young stars Wembanyama, Harper and Castle. But Saturday night belonged to the Knicks.
For more than five decades, Knicks fans have been waiting for the team to deliver another championship. They waited through bad teams, failed rebuilds, 22 different head coaches, missed opportunities and endless jokes.
The wait is over.
