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 NBA’s official game, series and franchise records: New York beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 14 and won the best-of-seven series 4-1.
The clinching result gives the Knicks their third NBA championship. It also closes a 53-year title gap for one of New York City’s most visible sports teams, a drought that stretched from the franchise’s 1973 championship through Sunday night’s win in San Antonio.
The box score shows why Game 5 turned. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson scored 45 points, the top confirmed individual total in the records reviewed for the championship game. With the Knicks holding San Antonio to 90 points, Brunson’s scoring carried New York through a four-point finish and into the franchise record book.
The series result was also decisive. The Knicks took the Finals 4-1, the same margin by which the Spurs beat New York in the Knicks’ previous Finals appearance in 1999, according to NBA historical Finals records. That 1999 loss had stood for 27 years as the Knicks’ last trip to the league’s final round.
This year’s title run was marked by large rallies as well as the final score. NBA game records from Game 4 show the Knicks came back from a 29-point deficit at Madison Square Garden before moving within one win of the championship. In Game 5, play-by-play accounts show New York again rallied from a double-digit deficit before closing out the series. The exact largest Game 5 deficit should be read from the official play-by-play; the available record supports the broader point that the Knicks had to come from behind to clinch.
The documented result changed the standing of the franchise immediately. Before Sunday, the Knicks had two NBA championships, with the most recent in 1973. After the 94-90 win, NBA franchise records list New York with three titles. The championship also turned a Finals matchup with San Antonio into a reversal of the Knicks’ 1999 ending, when the Spurs won that series 4-1.
Although Game 5 was played in San Antonio, the local impact centered on New York City. On-scene accounts from national and wire services reported celebrations outside Madison Square Garden and elsewhere in the city after the final horn. The records reviewed do not include official crowd estimates, police totals, injury counts or arrest figures, so those details cannot be stated as confirmed here.
City government also moved to mark the title. The New York City mayor’s office announced a ticker-tape parade and City Hall ceremony for Thursday, according to public statements cited in national and wire-service coverage. Mayor Zohran Mamdani also posted “HISTORY” on X after the championship-clinching win, according to Reuters-based coverage.
The city announcement adds a civic marker to a sports record: the Knicks’ first championship parade in more than five decades. The available records do not include the full parade route, start time or ceremony logistics.
The evidence trail is narrow but consistent. The NBA game result establishes the 94-90 Game 5 score. The NBA series record establishes the 4-1 Finals margin. The official box score establishes Brunson’s 45 points. NBA historical records establish the Knicks’ 1973 title, their 1999 Finals loss to San Antonio and the franchise’s move from two championships to three.
Together, those records show the scope of the result: the Knicks did not just win one game in San Antonio. They ended a 53-year championship drought, finished a five-game Finals win over the Spurs and brought New York City its first Knicks title since 1973.
