The New York Knicks ended one of the longest title droughts in North American professional sport on Sunday night, beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 at Madison Square Garden to claim their first NBA Championship since Willis Reed and Walt Frazier hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy in 1973.
Jalen Brunson scored 28 points and added nine assists, hitting a step-back jumper with 41 seconds remaining to push the lead to four. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 14 rebounds, while OG Anunoby’s defensive stand on Victor Wembanyama in the final possession sealed a Game 6 victory that finished the series 4-2 and triggered a courtside scene more than five decades in the making.
A long road back to the summit
The Knicks had not lifted the NBA Championship in 53 years — a gap that outlasted the careers of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Allan Houston and a generation of frustrated New Yorkers who watched the franchise stumble through the Isiah Thomas era, the Carmelo Anthony years and a decade of lottery picks. The last time the Knicks won it all, Richard Nixon was in the White House and the average ticket at the Garden cost six dollars.
Tom Thibodeau, hired in 2020 when the franchise was a punchline, finally has the title that eluded him in Chicago and Minnesota. His defensive identity — switch-heavy, physical, allergic to easy buckets — held the Spurs to 41.2 percent shooting across the series and 38 percent from three.
The numbers behind the run:
- The Knicks finished 58-24 in the regular season, the franchise’s best record since 1996-97
- They beat Boston, Cleveland and Indiana en route to the Finals, dropping just four games combined in the Eastern Conference playoffs
- Brunson averaged 27.4 points and 7.8 assists across the postseason, shooting 46 percent from the floor
- Anunoby and Mikal Bridges held opposing wings to 38.1 percent shooting in the half-court
How the Garden was won
Game 6 followed the template that defined New York’s championship run — defense, late-game execution and a refusal to be rattled by Wembanyama, who finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks but shot 8-for-23 from the floor. The 7ft 4in Frenchman was sensational in stretches, but the Knicks doubled hard whenever he caught the ball below the free-throw line and dared San Antonio’s role players to beat them.
They could not. Chris Paul, in what is almost certainly his final Finals appearance at 40, finished with 11 points and eight assists on 4-for-12 shooting. Devin Vassell scored 16 but missed three open threes in the fourth quarter. Stephon Castle, the runaway Rookie of the Year, was held to nine points on 3-for-11 shooting by Bridges.
The decisive run came midway through the fourth. Trailing 82-81 with five minutes left, the Knicks closed the game on a 13-8 burst built around four Brunson buckets, a Towns offensive rebound put-back and a corner three from Josh Hart that drew a roar from a crowd that included Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan and a visibly emotional Patrick Ewing seated behind the New York bench.
Brunson was named Finals MVP, the first Knicks player to win the award since the trophy was introduced in 1969.
What comes next for New York and San Antonio
This Knicks roster is built to repeat. Brunson is 29, Towns 30, Anunoby and Bridges both 28, and the front office holds two future first-round picks plus the mid-level exception heading into the summer. Leon Rose, the team president who engineered the Bridges trade and the Towns acquisition that defined the season, has the kind of flexibility that few championship teams retain.
For San Antonio, the loss stings but the trajectory is unmistakable. Wembanyama, 22, will be the favourite to win MVP next season after averaging 28.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 4.1 blocks in the Finals. Castle gives the Spurs a 21-year-old secondary creator. Gregg Popovich, who returned to the sideline this season after stepping back for health reasons in 2024, told reporters after the game that he intends to coach again next year.
The wider implications stretch beyond either franchise. New York returning to the top of the NBA is the kind of result the league has quietly hoped for since David Stern’s commissioner days — the country’s largest media market with a championship banner to wave and a star in Brunson who has rebuilt the Knicks’ identity from the point guard position outwards.
Fifty-three years of waiting ended at 11.04pm local time on Sunday. The parade will go up Broadway on Tuesday.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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