After 53 long years of watching both contending teams fall short of the finish line and others appear on a collision course with the NBA Draft lottery, the New York Knicks are NBA champions.

And, as in the first four games of the 2026 NBA Finals, Mike Brown's team had to rebound from a slow start. However, unlike their other three wins, the Knicks had to rely mainly on Jalen Brunson to get the job done in San Antonio on Saturday night.

The Knicks' captain went off for 45 points, leading the team to a 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. Unsurprisingly, he was named the winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award.

Shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 12-of-13 from the foul line, Brunson scored 29 points in the second half alone. No other Knick scored more than seven points (Josh Hart) in the second half, as Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby struggled with foul trouble for most of the night.

San Antonio built up double-digit leads in all five games of the series. However, except for Game 3, they were unable to keep the Knicks from clawing their way over the finish line. Towns shot 1-of-7 from the field, scoring just two points before fouling out, while Anunoby finished with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Mikal Bridges (14) and Josh Hart (13) also scored in double figures, with the Knicks' three Villanova alums combining to score 72 of the team's 94 points. Given how lead executive Leon Rose put this team together, it is fitting.

Spurs rookie Dylan Harper capped his series with another outstanding performance, scoring a team-high 25 points while also accounting for five rebounds and four assists. Victor Wembanyama added 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but the struggles of Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox were too much to overcome.

They shot a combined 4-of-25 from the field, with Castle not scoring his first field goal until late in the fourth quarter.

Given San Antonio's youth, the expectation is that they'll have more opportunities to hang another banner. However, as the Knicks can attest, getting back onto this stage is not guaranteed.