GAME 5: KNICKS 94, SPURS 90
(New York wins series 4-1.)
• BACK ON TOP: The Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973 and third overall. Their 53-year gap between championships is the longest in NBA history. The previous longest gap was the Milwaukee Bucks’ 50-year gap from 1971 to 2021.
• AMONG THE BEST: The Knicks went 16-3 (.842) in the 2026 NBA Playoffs presented by Google, becoming the 10th team to post a winning percentage of .840 or better in a single postseason. Since the First Round expanded to a best-of-seven format beginning with the 2002-03 season, the Knicks are tied with the 2024 Boston Celtics (16-3, .842) for the second-highest winning percentage in a single postseason, trailing only the 2017 Golden State Warriors (16-1, .941), whose .941 mark is the highest in playoff history.
• ROAD SUCCESS: The Knicks won their ninth consecutive road game in the 2026 Playoffs, setting the NBA record for the longest road winning streak in a single postseason. … The Knicks tied NBA records for the most road wins in a single postseason (nine, matching the 1995 Houston Rockets) and the most road wins in an NBA Finals series (three, also achieved by seven other teams). … The Knicks’ 9-1 road record (.900) in the 2026 Playoffs ranks second among NBA champions, behind only the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers (8-0).
• KNACK FOR THE COMEBACK: The Knicks are the first team since 1971 to win the NBA Finals after trailing by 10 or more points in every game of the series.
• HARDWARE HAUL: The Knicks are the first team to win both the Emirates NBA Cup and the NBA championship in the same season.
• CLOSEOUT SPECIALISTS: The Knicks finished the 2026 postseason 4-0 in closeout games, winning all four games on the road.
• JALEN BRUNSON: Brunson was named the NBA Finals MVP, earning the Bill Russell Trophy. He received all 11 votes from a media panel covering the series. … Brunson (45 points) set a Knicks franchise record for points in an NBA Finals game, surpassing Willis Reed’s previous mark of 38 points, set on April 29, 1970. … Brunson is the fourth player to score 45 or more points in an NBA Finals-clinching game, joining Bob Pettit (50 in 1958), Giannis Antetokounmpo (50 in 2021) and Michael Jordan (45 in 1998). … Brunson’s 163 points in the series are the most by a Knicks player in a single NBA Finals.
• DYLAN HARPER: Harper (25 points) is the first rookie to score 25 or more points in an NBA Finals game since the Phoenix Suns’ Richard Dumas in 1993 (Game 5). … Harper (21 points in Game 4 and 25 points in Game 5) is the fourth rookie in NBA history to record back-to-back games with 20 or more points in the NBA Finals, joining Joe Fulks (1947), Tom Heinsohn (1957) and Alvan Adams (1976).
• VICTOR WEMBANYAMA: Wembanyama recorded five blocks in the first half, tied for the most in an NBA Finals half in the play-by-play era (since 1998). He is the sixth player to accomplish the feat, joining Shaquille O’Neal (6/8/01), Tim Duncan (6/15/03), Ben Wallace (6/14/05), Dwight Howard (6/11/09) and Serge Ibaka (6/5/19). The last player with five blocks in the first half of an NBA Finals game was the Orlando Magic’s Howard in Game 4 in 2009.
• FIRST QUARTER: The Knicks scored 13 points in the first quarter, the second-fewest points in the first quarter of an NBA Finals game in the play-by-play era (since 1998). The fewest is 11 points by the Golden State Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter of Game 6 in 2016. … The Spurs (23) and Knicks (13) combined for 36 points in the first quarter, the fewest combined points in the first quarter of an NBA Finals game since Game 7 in 2013 (34 — Miami Heat 18 and Spurs 16).
