New York Knicks claim first NBA title in 53 years with 94:90 win in San Antonio

The turning point came in the final quarter. The Knicks launched a 10-0 run, tied the game at 83-83, and took their first lead since the early stages of the game, 86-85, with just over a minute remaining. They would not relinquish that lead and brought the historic victory home.

Point guard Jalen Brunson was the outstanding performer. The 29-year-old scored 45 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter alone, and was named Finals MVP. In the Finals series, he averaged 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. ESPN had put New York's win probability at 2.91 percent after they trailed 55:69.

Brunson as the match-winner and Finals MVP

„Ich habe keine Worte. Alles, von dem ich jemals geträumt habe. Ich weiß nicht, was ich fühle. Ich bin in Ehrfurcht. Immer wenn sie uns angezählt haben, haben wir einen Weg gefunden“, sagte Brunson im Interview mit dem US-Sender. Auf die Frage, was es ihm bedeute, den Titel mit seinem Vater Rick feiern zu können, der im Betreuerstab der Knicks arbeitet, zeigte der Guard nur auf seine tränennassen Augen und sagte: „Das siehst du."

The Knicks' triumph is part of a remarkable comeback run throughout the entire playoffs. In the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, New York fell behind 1-2 before three consecutive wins turned the series around. In the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers, they won four straight, and in the conference finals they swept defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers. Their point differential across the entire postseason ended up at plus-283.

A comeback culture throughout the playoffs

Particularly historic was Game 4 of the Finals series, in which the Knicks erased a 29-point deficit at Madison Square Garden to win. The team's statistical win probability had dropped to 0.4 percent at that point, according to ESPN. New York had also pulled off the feat of overcoming a 16-point deficit in the decisive Game 5 – the Spurs had led by at least 10 points at some point in all five games of the series.

For the hosts, young star Victor Wembanyama was the most conspicuous player. The Frenchman scored the first points of the game after both teams had missed six straight shots, and racked up three blocks in the first four minutes – as many points as the Knicks had in that stretch combined. Wembanyama, however, had rarely been used for more than 30 minutes per game during the regular season.

Ariel Hukporti: The third German NBA champion

Among the spectators at the arena in San Antonio were Prince Harry, the actor Ben Stiller, and Timothée Chalamet. Knicks legend Patrick Ewing also celebrated the title. The popularity of the victory was reflected in internet search queries as well: the Knicks were reportedly searched on Google more than twice as often in the days after the triumph as the New York Yankees had been during their 2024 World Series appearance, which had previously been the most-searched New York sports topic.

From a German perspective, the title had a special significance. With Ariel Hukporti, a 24-year-old center from Stralsund, celebrated his first NBA ring. Hukporti, whose parents come from Togo and who played soccer in his youth, was subbed in during the second half of the decisive game and recorded a block shortly after coming on. That makes him the third German basketball professional to win an NBA championship, after Dirk Nowitzki (2011 with the Dallas Mavericks) and Isaiah Hartenstein (2025 with the Oklahoma City Thunder).

Hukporti's path there was rocky. The son of Togolese parents, born in Stralsund, began his career in the U14 squad of USC Freiburg and played for Riesen Ludwigsburg from 2016/17 onward. In 2019, he was named Rookie of the Year in the German youth Bundesliga, and in 2020/21 he moved to Lithuanian club Nevėžis Kėdainiai, where he averaged 10.2 points and 7.4 rebounds in 22 games. After that, he was drawn to Australia and Melbourne United, with whom he narrowly lost the playoff final 2:3.

Wembanyama and the prominent spectators

In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected Hukporti with the 58th pick but traded him to New York before his first appearance – in exchange for Melvin Ajinça. An Achilles tendon rupture suffered in 2022/23 set the then-young player back, but Hukporti fought his way back and signed a two-year contract with the Knicks. „Es ist ein Kindheitstraum“, sagte er nach dem Titelgewinn und erklärte gegenüber „sport1", er habe „als junger Spieler einfach spielen müssen". He reported that he had already been a Knicks fan as a youngster.

For New York, it is the third championship in franchise history, after 1970 and 1973. Since their last triumph, the team had reached the Finals only twice – in 1994 against the Houston Rockets and in 1999 – both times without success. The comparison with other long title droughts in New York sports is hard to resist: in 1994, the year of the soccer World Cup in the USA, the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup after a long wait.

The game ended when Mike Brown, the Knicks' head coach, pulled the right tactical levers in the final quarter. Brunson, who had defeated the Boston Celtics in the playoffs the previous season, led his team in the decisive phase with a mix of mid-range shots and audacious drives to the basket. The Spurs, for their part, were unable to recover from the loss of their dominant first half.

Significance for New York and German basketball

In the night leading into Sunday, it was finally done: with the 94:90 win in Game 5, the New York Knicks ended one of the longest title droughts in North American professional sports. The reaction in the city was fitting: tens of thousands of fans celebrated in the streets of New York, and the Knicks became the dominant sports topic in the city, as measured by Google searches.