Jalen Brunson Caps Knicks Title Run With Finals MVP After Erasing 29-Point Deficit in Game 4
The New York Knicks have not won a title in 53 years. They have one now, and Jalen Brunson has the Bill Russell Trophy to show for it.
Brunson averaged 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in five games against the San Antonio Spurs and dropped 45 points in the closeout Game 5 in San Antonio. That is the highest single-game Finals total in Knicks franchise history. He was a unanimous MVP pick.
This series is going to be studied for years. Every game was within five points in the final five minutes. The Knicks rallied from double-digit deficits in all four of their wins, including a 29-point Game 4 comeback that ended on OG Anunoby’s tip-in at the buzzer. The Spurs led for most of the series and lost it anyway.
How New York Actually Pulled This Off
The Knicks were not supposed to win this. The Spurs were the higher seed, had the best player on the floor in Wembanyama, and were widely picked as the new dynasty in waiting. The Vegas line had San Antonio as a slight favorite even after the Knicks took Game 1.
What changed was Brunson. He kept getting where he wanted on the floor against any defender San Antonio threw at him. He hit step-back midrange jumpers that the Spurs gave up because they decided he could not make all of them. He could. He drew fouls. He made every free throw that mattered.
Anunoby was the second hero. He guarded Wembanyama for stretches. He hit the Game 4 tip that flipped the series. He defended every position. He shot 41 percent from three for the series. The Knicks paid him last summer and never looked back.
The Spurs are not broken. Wembanyama is still 22. De’Aaron Fox is still 28. The roster has Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and a wave of picks coming. San Antonio is going to be back in this round soon. The Knicks just got there first.
The bigger story for New York is what comes next. The Knicks have eight rotation players signed for next season. They have flexibility to add a piece at the margin. They have a coach in Tom Thibodeau who just delivered the franchise’s first ring since 1973 and is not going anywhere.
This is a real window. Brunson is 30 and just had the best playoff run of any guard since Stephen Curry in his prime. Anunoby is 28. Karl-Anthony Towns is 30. The Knicks have two more seasons to defend this before any of the core hits a serious age problem.
New York is also going to enjoy this for a while. The Canyon of Heroes parade in Manhattan brought millions out. Brunson got the spotlight he earned. The 1973 jokes can finally retire.
The Spurs were the better team for stretches of every game. The Knicks were the better team in the last five minutes of every game that mattered. That is what the Bill Russell Trophy is for, and Brunson is going to keep it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
