2026 NBA Finals: Knicks win Game 5, Larry O'Brien ...
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- New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals over the San Antonio Spurs 4-1, taking Game 5 by a 94-90 score on Saturday and ending a championship drought that stretched back to 1973.
- Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 43 points in Game 5's closeout, sinking three go-ahead free throws with 1:08 remaining to deliver a lead New York would not surrender, even after rolling his left ankle earlier in the game.
- OG Anunoby authored the series' defining moment in Game 4 with a go-ahead tip-in off a missed free throw with 1.2 seconds left, capping a 29-point comeback — the largest in NBA playoff history — in a 107-106 Knicks win.
- San Antonio built double-digit first-quarter leads in all five games and outscored New York by 57 cumulative points in opening periods, but the Knicks outscored the Spurs by 29 in second quarters, 14 in third quarters and 27 in fourth quarters.
- Victor Wembanyama posted five blocks in Game 5 and 32 points with three blocks in Game 3, passing Dikembe Mutombo for the most blocks (70) in a postseason debut since blocks were first tracked in 1974.
- Karl-Anthony Towns was described as New York's X-factor, playing 'like a Finals MVP' during the two San Antonio road games before a quieter 11-point, eight-rebound showing in Game 3 and a foul-out in Game 5.
- The Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals to reach the championship round for the first time since 1999, riding a 13-game playoff winning streak into the Finals.
Why it matters: The Knicks deliver New York its first NBA title in 53 years, cementing Jalen Brunson as a New York sports legend after his 43-point closeout. For the Spurs, blowing a 29-point lead in a Finals game — the largest such collapse in league history — against a generational talent in Wembanyama is a brutal early playoff lesson.
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