Brunson leads Knicks to first NBA title in 53 years

Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket

AFP | Los Angeles

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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' meagre 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.”

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.”