Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The New York Knicks, fueled by a sensational 45 points from Jalen Brunson, rallied again to beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 and win their first NBA title in 53 years on Saturday. The Knicks won the best-of-seven championship series 4-1, denying Victor Wembanyama and his young Spurs teammates on their home floor to lift the trophy for the first time since 1973. The Knicks, who recovered from 29 points down in game four in the biggest comeback win in Finals history, erased a double-digit deficit to win for the fourth time in the series.
Brunson scored eight of the Knicks’ meager 13 first-quarter points. They trailed by 16 in the second quarter and were down by 10 early in the fourth, but Brunson wouldn’t let them lose. “I’ve got no words,” Brunson said after setting a Knicks record for points in a Finals game, surpassing Willis Reed’s 38 in game three of the team’s 1970 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Knicks needed every bit of his contribution on a night when they connected on just 35.6 percent of their shots from the field. “I don’t know what I’m feeling,” added Brunson, who was named Finals Most Valuable Player. “I’m in awe. Whenever someone counts us out, we find a way to come back and do something about it.”
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French star Wembanyama scored 19 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and blocked five shots, and rookie Dylan Harper scored 25 points off the bench for San Antonio. But once again, the Spurs team that vanquished the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals were unable to hold off the crafty and determined Knicks. “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 win marked the final chapter of a dramatic playoff run that had captivated New York, with tens of thousands of long-suffering fans packing neighborhood watch parties throughout the Big Apple as the team inched towards a first title in more than half a century. Within moments of clinching victory on Saturday, the Empire State Building was lit up in the Knicks’ signature orange and blue colors, as raucous celebrations erupted outside the team’s Madison Square Garden home.
US President Donald Trump, who attended game three at Madison Square Garden, sent a message of congratulations. “Congratulations to (owner) Jim Dolan and the New York Knicks!!!,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “What a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four – Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball. Also, tonight, a superstar was born. His name is Jalen Brunson,” Trump said, hailing a litany of other Knicks players as well.
There was a boisterous blue and orange-clad contingent cheering the Knicks on at the Spurs’ Frost Bank Center, where the celebrities on the sidelines included not only well-known Knicks fans but also Britain’s Prince Harry, who sat with NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Mikal Bridges scored 14 points, and Josh Hart added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns scored just two points before fouling out in the fourth quarter but pulled down 10 rebounds and came up with three steals and a blocked shot.
Fouled on a three-pointer, Brunson made all three free-throws to put the Knicks up 86-85 with 3:40 left to play. It was their first lead since the opening minutes, and they would not trail again. Game four hero OG Anunoby drove for a dunk that made it 88-85, and after the Spurs knotted it at 88-88, Brunson put New York back in front with a driving basket, and the Knicks held on. Wembanyama missed a last-gasp three-pointer with two seconds left, and when Anunoby corralled the rebound, it was over.
“It’s painful,” Wembanyama said. “It’s painful. But I’m not running away from that. I’m using it to fuel me.”
© 2024 AFP
