Knicks crowned NBA champions for first time in 53 years

The New York Knicks are the NBA champions for the first time in 53 years after another comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Jalen Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks beat the Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 on Saturday night.

The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories, overcoming a 16-point deficit to win the championship in San Antonio.

Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a Finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise's fortunes when he arrived four years ago.

"I have no words," Brunson said during the on-court celebration. "It's everything I ever dreamed of.

"I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it."

"It's why I came to New York."

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama notched 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but it was not enough to keep his side in the Finals.

"The margin of error is very thin," Wembanyama said. "Our domination stints are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can't have ups and downs like this. ... The ups are OK. The downs are the reason we lost.

"This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment. I can't tell exactly what the lesson is, but we're learning."

"We weren't ready to win an NBA championship," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson echoed. "The better team won. We did a lot of good things, and we didn't finish the job. That's what it is."

New York erupts as fans celebrate victory

It took the Knicks 80 years - the Knicks won the first game in NBA history in 1946, three years before what was then the Basketball Association of America started being known as the National Basketball Association - but the franchise has now become the ninth that can say it has at least three championships.

Boston have 18, the Los Angeles Lakers 17, Golden State seven, Chicago six, San Antonio five and Philadelphia, Detroit and Miami all have three.

Knowing fans had waited 53 years to see the Knicks hoist the NBA championship trophy, owner James Dolan did not even wait to be handed the 30-pound gold-plated prize.

He grabbed it and lifted it skyward with a yell.

"I want to say something to New York," Dolan shouted. "Hey New York! I'm sorry it took so long! But here we are, and hopefully it won't take that long again!"

It is a franchise that has gone through 24 different coaches and more than 400 players since what was, until now, the most recent championship season.

Some of the game's biggest superstars called Madison Square Garden home and could not end the title drought, including Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Bernard King and Carmelo Anthony.

The Knicks lost a Game 7 in the 1994 finals to Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston, then made a miracle run to the 1999 finals in a shortened season only to lose to San Antonio in five games - the first of what became five championships for Gregg Popovich and the Spurs.

"We didn't get it done [in the 90s]... I always say the third time is the charm," former Knicks guard John Starks said.

Starks was right. It took the Knicks 27 years to get back to the Finals, had the Spurs again standing in their way, and to fully flip the script, it was New York prevailing in five games - and fans are savouring every minute of their title victory.