NEW YORK, June 14 (Our New York News) — The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years, a finding supported by the league’s Game 5 result, Finals series record and franchise championship history.
The NBA’s official record for the 2026 Finals shows the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 on June 14 in San Antonio, closing the best-of-seven series 4-1. The same league and franchise records show it is the Knicks’ third NBA championship and their first since 1973.
The box score gives the clearest record of how the title was won: Jalen Brunson scored 45 points in the clinching game, leading New York in a four-point win. No other full Game 5 stat line was included in the records available for this report, so this account does not state shooting totals, rebounds, assists, quarter scores or Spurs scoring leaders.
For New York, the result changes a franchise record that had stood for more than half a century. Before Sunday night, the Knicks had two NBA titles, with the last one coming in 1973. Their most recent Finals trip before 2026 was in 1999, when NBA historical Finals records show San Antonio beat New York 4-1.
This time, the series ended with the same five-game margin, but in the Knicks’ favor.
The title also capped a Finals run marked by two late-series recoveries. NBA game records for Game 4 show the Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit at Madison Square Garden. The Associated Press and other national and international accounts, relying on NBA records, described that rally as the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. The Game 5 record also shows New York came back from a double-digit deficit, though the exact largest deficit was not verified from an official play-by-play in the materials reviewed for this report.
The championship was clinched away from New York, but its effect was immediate in the city. The Associated Press, the BBC and other on-scene news accounts reported celebrations outside Madison Square Garden and elsewhere in New York City after the final score. The available records and accounts reviewed for this report did not include an official crowd estimate, police count, arrest total, injury total or street-closure list.
City government is now part of the next step. The New York City mayor’s office announced a ticker-tape parade and City Hall ceremony for the Knicks on Thursday, according to reports citing the mayor’s office and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public statement on X. Reuters reported that Mamdani posted one word after the win: “HISTORY.”
The evidence trail for the core finding is straightforward. The NBA game result establishes the 94-90 Game 5 score. The NBA Finals series record establishes the 4-1 series win. The official box score establishes Brunson’s 45 points. NBA historical and franchise records establish the 1973 title, the 1999 Finals loss to San Antonio and the fact that this is the Knicks’ third championship.
Together, those records document the central fact now reshaping New York’s basketball history: after 53 years, the Knicks are champions again.
