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Drought Over: A historically gritty championNot only are the Knicks champs for the first time in 53 years, they’re probably the first thing you’re going to think of for a while when you hear the word “comeback.”They won these NBA Finals 4-1 despite trailing San Antonio by at least 10 points in the first quarter of every game. They won it despite trailing in the fourth quarter in every game. By Game 5, it felt like no Spurs lead could ever be safe, and you felt that Spurs players knew it, too.Jalen Brunson? Officially a legend. Forty-five points of his team’s 94 points in the clincher. Against a transcendent defensive player in Victor Wembanyama, the Finals MVP found the space time and again. Pure genius.The dominant images of these finals will always be the OG Anunoby tip-in to cap a 29-point comeback in the second half of Game 4 and Knicks fans reveling on the streets outside the Garden, invigorated in a way most probably never imagined even a month ago.As for the history: Sam Vecenie pointed out that Phil Jackson was a player on the last Knicks team to win a title. This was their first finals appearance this millennium.Absolute madness.Our Zach Harper, among the few who picked the Knicks to win this series, was in the building. We asked his level of surprise it went down like this:💬 I’m not surprised the Knicks were able to leverage their experience against such a young team. But I am surprised that all five games followed nearly the exact same pattern. The Knicks know who they are and that’s why they won.No doubt the Spurs will wonder what happened, and why it happened four times. It probably won’t be much solace that they basically skipped a grade to get here, winning so soon in the growth of their young core. But it’s worth keeping that perspective. They’ll be back.From our coverage:
