Knicks are champs: Decades of wait finally over for Big Apple

LOS ANGELES — 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 4 to produce the biggest comeback in Finals history, erased a double-digit deficit to win for the fourth time in the series.

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 3 of the team’s 1970 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.

“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.”

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 win marked the final chapter of a dramatic playoff run which 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.

Mikal Bridges scored 14 points and Josh Hart added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks.