The New York Knicks are NBA champions again, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 to win the 2026 NBA Finals and end a 53-year title drought. In a clincher defined by tight margins and a grind-it-out finish, Jalen Brunson delivered an “epic” performance, scoring 45 points to lift New York to its first championship since 1973 and earning NBA Finals MVP honors.
The Knicks didn’t have much room for error on a poor shooting night, but Brunson’s scoring load proved decisive. No other New York player scored more than 14 points, with Mikal Bridges finishing as the team’s next-highest scorer. Still, the Knicks did enough late to close out the series and secure the franchise’s third NBA title.
For San Antonio, Dylan Harper led the way with 25 points, while Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting as the Spurs’ season ended one possession short in the final moments.
Brunson’s 45 points deliver the title and Finals MVP
New York’s path to the trophy in Game 5 ran directly through Brunson. With the Knicks struggling to generate consistent offense elsewhere, Brunson “put the team on his back and carried it to a championship,” according to the live updates, producing 45 points in the 94-90 win. The performance capped the series with Brunson being named NBA Finals MVP.
The supporting scoring was limited, which underscored how much New York relied on its star guard in the clincher. Bridges was the only other Knick to reach double figures beyond the low teens, scoring 14 points, and the rest of the roster stayed below that mark. In a four-point game, those details mattered: every empty possession increased the pressure, and every Brunson bucket steadied the Knicks as they tried to finish the job.
The result also carried historic weight for the franchise and its fan base. The Knicks’ championship ends a title drought stretching back to 1973, a span of 53 years. New York’s win adds the Knicks to the list of NBA champions in the 2020s, joining the Lakers (2020), Bucks (2021), Warriors (2022), Nuggets (2023), Celtics (2024), Thunder (2025), and now the Knicks (2026).
As the celebration unfolded, the live blog noted Knicks players returning to the court after the final horn, including a half-court competition among certain players. Brunson later appeared at the podium “all smiles” with his trophies, and the night’s reaction extended beyond the arena as well, including a congratulatory post from President Donald Trump directed at Jim Dolan and the Knicks.
Spurs’ late push falls short as Wembanyama misses final shot
San Antonio had enough firepower to keep the game within reach, led by Harper’s 25 points. Wembanyama added 19 points and 14 rebounds, but the Spurs couldn’t flip the result in the closing sequence. The live updates reported that Wembanyama missed the final shot of the 2026 NBA Finals, a defining moment in a one-possession finish.
After the miss, Wembanyama headed straight toward the locker room without shaking hands, describing the loss as “painful” while saying he would use it as fuel. The Spurs ultimately fell in the Finals, 4-1, as New York clinched in five games.
What the Game 5 result means for both teams
For the Knicks, the 94-90 win is the franchise’s long-awaited return to the mountaintop, delivering a championship that will be remembered for both the drought it ended and the singular scoring night that sealed it. Brunson’s 45-point clincher stands as the headline of the finale, especially given New York’s limited secondary scoring.
For the Spurs, the narrow Game 5 defeat closes a Finals run that featured major performances from Harper and Wembanyama, but ended with the last attempt not falling. The immediate aftermath reflected the sting of coming up short, while the broader takeaway is that San Antonio pushed the series to a fifth game before New York finished the job.
With the 2026 season now complete, the Knicks move forward as the league’s newest champions, while the Spurs head into the offseason after a Finals loss that came down to the final moments.
