New York Knicks defeat San Antonio Spurs to snap 53-year NBA championship drought

SAN ANTONIO: Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks did it again. And now they are the champions.

For the first time in 53 years, New York rules the National Basketball Association. Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday (Jun 13) night. 

The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories. The deficit was 16 on Saturday night. Brunson and the Knicks were never fazed.

“I have no words,” Brunson, who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the finals, said during the on-court celebration. “It's everything I ever dreamed of.”

Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart - the other two parts of the “Nova Knicks” trio that also includes Brunson, three players who were National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champions at Villanova and teamed up in New York to try to do the same - combined to score 27 points. Bridges had 14 points and Hart contributed 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 come back and do something about it.”

Dylan Harper scored 25 for the Spurs, who got 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots from Victor Wembanyama.

The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning them all on the road. It didn't feel like the road, though - not with thousands of