Knicks cap brilliant run with long-awaited NBA tit...
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- New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at San Antonio's Frost Bank Center on Saturday, claiming the franchise's first NBA championship since 1973 — a span of 53 years.
- Mike Brown, hired last summer after the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau and interviewed numerous other candidates, was "frozen with emotion" after the buzzer, saying "I couldn't believe that it was happening" and crediting his assistants and players.
- Trailing 83-73 with 8:21 remaining, the Knicks methodically closed out the game — capping a postseason defined by comeback victories, including a record 29-point rally in Game 4.
- Josh Hart hit three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points and defended teammate Mikal Bridges, telling critics to "forget them picks" in reference to the hefty bounty the Knicks sent to the Brooklyn Nets to acquire him two summers ago.
- Hart credited Brown for the title and revealed that Brown had wanted to bring him off the bench this season — a move Hart said kept him fresh for the final series, even after leading the NBA in minutes played the year prior.
- The Knicks celebrated with cigars, champagne, and dancing in their locker room after the win, with Hart noting he had been "traded" multiple times and "found a home in New York."
Why it matters: Brown, hired only last summer after the Knicks cycled through other coaching candidates and dismissed a coach (Thibodeau) who had reached the conference finals, delivered a title in his first season — validating a front-office bet on a coach "many believed couldn't put it together." The 53-year drought ended for a franchise whose roster overhaul, most notably the costly Bridges acquisition, drew widespread skepticism that Hart's postgame comments implicitly addressed.
