New York Knicks 2026 Finals Lineup
This may have been the best five-game Finals series we’ve ever seen.
In the 30 years for which we have play-by-play data, the 2026 Finals was:
- The only Finals series where every game was within five points in the last five minutes.
- Just the fourth playoff series where Games 1-5 were all within three points in the last two minutes.
- The first series in the last 10 years where Games 1-5 were all within three points in the last two minutes.
Five incredible games, even though the San Antonio Spurs won the five first quarters by a total of 57 points and led by as many as 29 in Game 4. The New York Knicks just kept coming back, erasing double-digit deficits in all five games and winning four of the five to earn the franchise’s first championship in 53 years.
The Knicks finished these playoffs 6-2 in games they trailed by double-digits, the best such playoff record for any team in these 30 years of play-by-play data. (Teams’ overall record in playoff games they trailed by double-digits over that time is 530-2,007, .209.)
1. Brunson carries the Knicks down the stretch
Jalen Brunson scores a Knicks Finals record 45 points in the closeout victory over the Spurs.
Jalen Brunson led the Finals with 22 points scored in the clutch (with the score within five in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter), the most clutch points for any player in the Finals in the last 15 years (since Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 in the 2011 Finals). He wasn’t particularly efficient, but he had a clutch usage rate of 53.3%.
Brunson has now led the playoffs in clutch usage rate (minimum 25 clutch minutes played) in each of the last three years. He was the Knicks’ offense down the stretch of all those close games, often taking on 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama on critical possessions in The Finals.
- In Game 1, Brunson got his hands on an offensive rebound and then drained a corner 3 to give the Knicks the lead for good with 1:51 left, then hitting a ridiculous shot to put them up six in the final minute.
- In Game 2, he hit a tough, fadeaway jumper to tie the game in the final minute and then made the game-winning free throw with 9.5 seconds left.
- In Game 4, he had the Knicks’ two field goals that preceded OG Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in.
- In Game 5, he had the final field goal, giving the Knicks the lead for good by beating Stephon Castle and tossing in a floater with 1:06 on the clock.
Overall, this was Brunson’s fourth-least efficient playoff series (true shooting percentage of 53.6%) of the 15 he’s played in. But he was clearly the 2026 Finals MVP, having scored 45 points in the title-clinching Game 5.
“He is a freaking 1A,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said. “He is an MVP candidate.”
2. Defense at the right time
The Knicks were the best defensive team in the playoffs, allowing 104.5 points per 100 possessions over their 19 games. In the clutch*, they allowed just 66 points on 72 defensive possessions (92 per 100).
There was a little bit of luck there, as the Knicks’ opponents shot just 4-for-19 (21%) on clutch three pointers and amazingly bad 10-for-21 (48%) on clutch free throws. The Spurs obviously made a couple of brutal decisions down the stretch of Games 2 and 4 of the Finals.
But the Knicks consistently came up with big stops, including a few right at the rim in the final minutes of Game 5.
*When the score is within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime
3. Spurs come up short again
This was the first postseason for the Spurs’ core. They had a tremendous run, knocking off the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals by winning Game 7 on the road. But they were just 3-8 (0-5 at home) in playoff games that were within five points in the last five minutes.
They scored just 93 points on 97 clutch possessions (96 per 100) over those 11 games. Wembanyama (12-for-23) and Dylan Harper (8-for-16) combined to shoot 20-for-39 (52%) on clutch shots, but their teammates were a combined 11-for-43 (26%).
“We weren’t ready to win an NBA championship,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. “The better team won. We did a lot of good things, and we didn’t finish the job. That’s what it is.”
Alessandro Colao 
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