Overview
- The New York Knicks closed out the NBA Finals with a 94-90 win in Game 5 to take the series 4-1 over the San Antonio Spurs and claim the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
- Jalen Brunson scored 45 points in the closeout game and received the Bill Russell Trophy as Finals MVP for his series-clinching performance.
- Reserve center Mitchell Robinson played the full Finals while nursing a fractured right hand, was listed questionable for Game 1, and grabbed a crucial offensive rebound in the final minute of Game 5.
- Robinson posted an Instagram Story showing a snake he says he caught at the team hotel in San Antonio and told reporters he had caught another snake earlier in the playoffs against Atlanta, a claim reported from the player’s own posts and remarks.
- The title ends a long championship drought for the Knicks, raises Brunson’s and Robinson’s profiles with fans, and leaves the team positioned to plan an offseason around a proven core and heightened expectations.