New York Knicks win first NBA Championship in 54 years

The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs by three points in game five to win the NBA Finals.

Knicks’ Jalen Brunson was awarded finals MVP after scoring 45 points in game five and averaging 32 points across the finals.

The Knicks relied on Brunson’s scoring in game five after Knicks’ star, Karl Anthony-Towns, fouled out in the fourth quarter.

This forced the Knicks to play backup center Mitchell Robinson, who outmanoeuvred Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama to grab a crucial offensive rebound in the last quarter to preserve the Knicks 3-point lead with 25 seconds to go.

This was after Spurs’ Dylan Harper missed a layup that would have tied the game with 30 seconds left. 

The rookie Harper was the Spurs’ top scorer with 25 points in game five. 

Harper outplayed the Spurs’ starting point guard, De’Aaron Fox, who only made three of his 15 shot attempts in game five.

Fox predominantly shot perimeter jumpshots in game five, which is not his primary skill of driving near the rim for layups or to create for his teammates as he did throughout the first three games. 

Fox only took two shots within three meters of the rim in game five, and averaged just 13 points on 34% shooting in the finals. 

Whereas Harper was aggressive attacking the rim and averaged 18 points at 50% shooting efficiency in the finals.

Spurs’ centers, Wembanyama and Luke Kornet both helped off OG Anunoby and Josh Hart to impact shots at the rim and be in a better position to rebound. 

Yet both of these Knicks’ players shot over 40% from three and the Knicks had seven more offensive rebounds than the Spurs, leading to the Knicks having 25 more second chance points than the Spurs throughout the finals.

The Spurs had a seven point lead at three quarter time of game five, but were overrun by the Knicks.

This was a consistent problem for the Spurs as they had a 27-point lead at half time in game four, but they shot 21% from the field in the second half and lost the game.

The Spurs also made late-game mistakes in their one-point game two loss, as Wembanyama threw the ball off the back of teammate, Stephon Castle, who then fouled Brunson with 15 seconds remaining.

Meanwhile Brunson averaged 11 points on 51% shooting in the last quarters. 

In 2024, Brunson signed for $113 million less than he could have had he signed a year later, this decision enabled the Knicks to have greater financial flexibility and retain their key players. 

Brunson said this financial sacrifice was “‘worth it” in an ESPN interview and Mike Brown said Brunson’s decision “set the standard” for the team. 

Brunson’s father, Rick, is an assistant coach for the Knicks, and Brunson said winning the championship with his father was “everything we dreamed of. It’s why I came to New York.”