NEW YORK, June 14 (Our New York News) — The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973, a finding supported by the league’s Game 5 result, Finals series record and franchise championship history.
The NBA’s official game record shows the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 on June 14, 2026, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The league’s series record shows New York won the best-of-seven Finals 4-1. Together, those records confirm the Knicks’ third NBA championship and their first in 53 years.
The box score identifies Jalen Brunson as the central player in the clincher. Brunson scored 45 points, the top confirmed individual total provided for Game 5. No full box score beyond Brunson’s scoring total was available in the research record used for this report, so this article does not identify other statistical leaders or shooting details.
The win changed the Knicks’ place in NBA history in several ways. NBA historical records show the franchise’s previous championships came before the 2026 title, with the most recent in 1973. The same historical record shows New York had not reached the NBA Finals since 1999, when the Knicks lost to the Spurs 4-1. This time, the margin was reversed: New York finished San Antonio in five games.
The documented spine of the title run is the official series outcome: Knicks over Spurs, 4-1. The evidence also shows the series included at least one major comeback before the clincher. NBA game records cited in the research show the Knicks came back from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. Supplied accounts describe that as the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, but the research file did not include a direct NBA historical record page confirming that superlative. The confirmed fact is the 29-point deficit and New York’s Game 4 win.
Game 5 also required a comeback. The records and accounts reviewed for this report show the Knicks rallied from a double-digit deficit before closing out the 94-90 win in San Antonio. One account put the deficit at 16 points, but the research file did not include the official play-by-play needed to independently confirm that exact figure. For that reason, the more limited finding is that New York came back from a double-digit margin in the clinching game.
The title was won in San Antonio, but the public consequence was immediate in New York City. Accounts from national and international news organizations, including the BBC and The Associated Press, described celebrations outside Madison Square Garden and elsewhere in the city after the final buzzer. The research record did not include official crowd estimates, police statements, arrest numbers, injury reports or street-closure details, so this article does not report those figures.
City government also moved to mark the championship. The New York City mayor’s office announced a ticker-tape parade and City Hall ceremony for the Knicks on the Thursday after the title win, according to reports based on the mayor’s office announcement and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public statement on X. Reuters reported that Mamdani posted, “HISTORY,” after the championship-clinching victory.
The verified record leaves little room for dispute on the central finding: the Knicks won the 2026 NBA championship by beating the Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 and taking the series 4-1. The title ends a drought that dated to 1973, gives the franchise its third championship and closes a Finals matchup against the same opponent that beat New York in its previous Finals appearance in 1999.
