The New York Knicks clinched the series with a Game 5 win on Saturday evening in San Antonio, winning their first NBA Finals in more than half a century when they edged out the San Antonio Spurs with a score of 94-90.
They ended the first quarter down 10 points, with 13 to the Spurs’ 23, but by halftime, they had cut their deficit in half. They began the second half with 37 to the Spurs’ 42 — and trailed them until the final moments of the fourth quarter, finally tying up the score at 83-83 with 4:25 left in the game. The Spurs didn’t make it easy for them, scoring almost immediately — but the Knicks pulled ahead with 3:40 left, 86-85, and the two teams traded blows until the clock ran out.
Going into Saturday night’s game, New York was already leading the series three games to one. They won their first matchup on June 3 (105-95) and the second on June 5 (105-104). The Spurs notched a win on June 8 (115-111), but the Knicks delivered a record-setting comeback in Game 4 to win (107-106).
After the first quarter of Game 4, the Knicks were already down by 19 — the biggest first-quarter disadvantage in NBA Finals history for the home team — and by halftime things were looking bleak. Another record-setting deficit, this time at 27 points — and then in the second half, the Spurs widened their lead to 29 points.
The comeback — driven largely by power forward OG Anunoby and guard Jalen Brunson — delivered the final basket with just 1.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. San Antonio did not even have time to attempt one last shot.
And so the Knicks headed to Texas for Game 5. If they had not pulled out the victory on Saturday, they would have returned to their home court at Madison Square Garden for Game 6.
The last time the Knicks won the NBA finals was 1973, when they bested the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.
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