But the final score only tells part of the story. This final will remain one of the craziest ever played, with a historic comeback, an MVP born in the 2nd round of the draft, and a 22-year-old Frenchman who grew before our eyes despite the defeat.
The series, game by game
What makes this final unique: the Spurs led in all five games, sometimes heavily, and still lost the series 4-1. An almost unreal statistic at the highest level.
Over the entire series, the Spurs won the first five combined quarters with a total lead of 57 points and led by up to 29 points in a single game. The Knicks still won four of those five games. This is not luck repeated five times. It’s a team built to withstand pressure.
Game 4: the greatest comeback in Finals history
If one image must remain from this series, it is that of Game 4. Down by 27 points at halftime and up to 29 points in the third quarter, the Knicks seemed destined for a loss that would have tied the series 2-2 and shifted all momentum to San Antonio.
None of that happened. New York erased the gap point by point, quarter after quarter, to win 107-106. The greatest comeback ever in NBA Finals history.
We had the best defensive record in the playoffs in clutch moments. In the last five close points, we always found the stop we needed.
This comeback cemented the legend of this team even before the title was officially won. The Knicks finished the playoffs with a 6-2 record in games where they were trailing by double digits, their best ratio in such situations in thirty years of play-by-play data.
Jalen Brunson, unanimous MVP and legend in the making
Jalen Brunson was not a first-round draft pick. He wasn’t even a first-round choice. Selected 33rd overall in 2018 by the Dallas Mavericks, he joined the Knicks four years later with a simple goal according to his father Rick, now an assistant on New York’s staff: to help lead a team capable of winning a title.
Mission accomplished, and in the best possible way. Unanimously named Finals MVP, Brunson joins a very exclusive circle of players crowned after being drafted in the second round: Willis Reed, legend of the Knicks' 1970 and 1973 titles, Dennis Johnson, and Nikola Jokić. A lineage that makes perfect sense for a player who just ended the drought opened by Reed and Frazier 53 years ago.
The most memorable moment of the evening, however, had nothing to do with basketball. After the final buzzer, Brunson went to embrace his father in an emotional hug, recalling the child who used to train with him in the garage alley years before they became NBA champions together.
On the other side, Wembanyama grows through defeat
For the Spurs, this first appearance in the NBA Finals with their new core ended in disappointment, but not failure. In Game 5, Victor Wembanyama delivered a performance of 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks, confirming the potential that already makes him one of the faces of world basketball at just 22 years old.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson summed it up simply after the game: the best team won, San Antonio did many good things but couldn’t finish. For a team coming off an impressive playoff run, having eliminated the reigning champions Oklahoma City in Game 7 on their home court, the future looks very promising.
New York, 53 years of waiting and a historic parade
The Knicks’ last title dated back to 1973, led by Willis Reed and Walt Frazier. In the meantime, the franchise experienced seven consecutive seasons without playoffs between 2014 and 2020, and no winning seasons between 2001 and 2010. The longest drought in the franchise’s history has officially ended.
The 2026 Finals attracted an average of 20.6 million viewers in the United States, a ratings record since 1998. The champions’ parade took place on June 18 in the legendary Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan, amid a sea of fans celebrating half a century of waiting.
Another symbol of this victory: coach Mike Brown was part of Gregg Popovich’s Spurs coaching staff in 1999, the year New York lost its last final to San Antonio. Twenty-seven years later, he brings the title back to New York, against that same Texas franchise.
The champions' roster also reflects the increasingly international face of the league, with players representing France (Mohamed Diawara, Pacôme Dadiet), Germany (Ariel Hukporti), and the United Kingdom (OG Anunoby, born in London).
Find all our official New York Knicks jerseys on Elite Fanstore to celebrate this historic title.