Jalen Brunson's 45 Points Deliver Knicks First NBA Title Since 1973

Article excerpt

Fifty-three years is a long time to wait for anything, and on Saturday night in San Antonio, the New York Knicks finally made it stop. Jalen Brunson scored 45 points as New York defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5, winning the NBA Finals 4-1 and delivering the franchise its third championship and first since Willis Reed limped onto the Garden floor in 1973. The margin was four points, but it wasn't comfortable: Game 4 had required a historic comeback, and the clincher came on the road, on Spurs home court, with Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio's crowd pushing back. Brunson, 26, earned Finals MVP honors, and the win ignited a debate that New York sports fans love almost as much as winning: whether he now belongs alongside Walt Frazier and Willis Reed in the conversation for greatest Knick of all time. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a parade route through Manhattan almost immediately, with fans already mapping out where to stand. The road to Game 5 wasn't entirely clean off the court either. Ticketmaster briefly faced a backlash after ticket-access issues for the clinching game drew public objections from New York officials, though the company reversed course before the game was played. For the Spurs, the loss sets up a pivotal offseason around Wembanyama, the generational talent who came close but couldn't stop the drought from ending.