#KnicksIn5 is the hashtag for the New York Knicks’ 2026 NBA championship — clinched in Game 5 of the Finals on 13 June 2026 with a 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs, behind a Knicks-Finals record 45 points from Jalen Brunson, who was named Bill Russell Trophy as Finals MVP. The win ended a 53-year drought going back to the 1972-73 championship and set off the largest NYC sports celebration in a generation.
Quick Facts
- Series: Knicks 4, Spurs 1 (Final, 3-13 June 2026)
- Clincher: 13 June 2026, Madison Square Garden, Knicks 94 – Spurs 90
- Finals MVP: Jalen Brunson (45 pts in Game 5; Bill Russell Trophy)
- Previous title: 1972-73 (53-year drought)
- TV viewership: 20.6 million per game average — most-watched Finals since 1998
- Comeback: Game 4 — 29-point deficit erased, largest in Finals history
What Happened
The Knicks closed out the Spurs in five games on a Saturday-night fourth-quarter run at Madison Square Garden. New York trailed by 16 in the third quarter and was still down 10 with eight minutes left before Brunson took over. His 45 points were the most by any Knick in a Finals game, breaking Willis Reed’s record of 38 set against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 Finals. The win followed Game 4’s 29-point comeback — the largest in NBA Finals history — and made New York the first team since the 1971 Bucks to take a Finals via two double-digit comeback wins.
Key Figures
- Jalen Brunson — Finals MVP, 45 points in Game 5, joins Willis Reed as the only Knicks to win the trophy.
- Karl-Anthony Towns — second scoring option through the series.
- OG Anunoby — primary defender on Victor Wembanyama in the Finals.
- Tom Thibodeau — head coach.
- Rick Brunson — Jalen’s father and an assistant coach, separately honored by the city of Syracuse for his role in the title run.
Cultural Impact
The win re-set the Knicks at the center of New York culture for the first time in a generation. NPR’s photo desk captured the parade through the Canyon of Heroes, ending at City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed the team and crowd. The 20.6-million-per-game average made it the most-watched NBA Finals since the 1998 Bulls-Jazz series, and ESPN’s social desks reported that #KnicksIn5 was the top sports hashtag in the United States the night of Game 5.
Variations & Related Tags
The win trended under #KnicksIn5, #KnicksChampions, #BrunsonMVP and the player-name tag #JalenBrunson, sitting inside the broader #NBAFinals and #NBA conversation.
Sources
- https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/knicks-spurs-score-live-updates-nba-finals-game-5/live/
- https://www.nba.com/news/jalen-brunson-wins-bill-russell-trophy-as-2026-nba-finals-mvp
- https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2026/06/18/g-s1-128953/in-photos-the-knicks-celebrate-their-first-nba-championship-in-more-than-50-years
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_NBA_Finals
- https://www.nba.com/news/how-the-knicks-won-the-2026-nba-championship