The New York Knicks won the NBA Finals 2026: they beat the San Antonio Spurs in five games and became the league’s best team for the first time since 1973. On 20 October a championship banner was raised under the rafters of Madison Square Garden, and the 2026/27 NBA season tipped off the same evening. Here is how the series unfolded, who plays for both teams, what Victor Wembanyama will be remembered for, who took the individual awards and why the off-season was one of the noisiest in recent years.
Who won the NBA Finals 2026 and who was named MVP
The 2026 NBA champions are the New York Knicks. The series against San Antonio ended 4–1, with the decisive fifth game played on 13 June in San Antonio and won by the visitors 94-90. It is the club’s first title in 53 years.
The Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was unanimously named Finals MVP, with 11 votes out of 11. He received the Bill Russell Trophy and scored 45 points in the fifth game.
NBA Finals 2026 schedule and scores: the Knicks–Spurs series
The finals pitted two teams that had already met in December in the decisive game of the NBA Cup. Then, on 16 December in Las Vegas, the Knicks won 124-113 and Brunson was named tournament MVP. In the summer the story repeated itself, only the stakes were higher. The NBA Finals 2026 began on 3 June in Texas: the Spurs held home-court advantage.
- 3 June, San Antonio: Spurs 95-105 Knicks;
- 5 June, San Antonio: Spurs 104-105 Knicks;
- 8 June, New York: Knicks 111-115 Spurs;
- 10 June, New York: Knicks 107-106 Spurs;
- 13 June, San Antonio: Spurs 90-94 Knicks.
NBA Finals 2026 game 4: down 29
The series was essentially turned around by game four, played on 10 June. San Antonio won the first quarter 41-22 and led by as many as 29 points. New York came back, and victory in the final seconds was sealed by an O.G. Anunoby put-back. It is the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. Brunson scored 36 points, Wembanyama had 24 on 9-of-25 shooting, and late on the Frenchman missed two free throws in a row.
NBA Finals 2026 game 5: Brunson’s 45 points
On 13 June in San Antonio the Knicks again had to come from behind: in the fourth quarter they trailed by seven points. Brunson finished the evening with 45 points: 14-of-27 from the field, 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, 13-of-15 from the free-throw line, 15 points in the final quarter. He became the fourth player to score 45 or more in a game that ended a Finals series, after Michael Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bob Pettit.
‘This is everything we dreamed of. It’s why I came to New York,’ Brunson said after the game.
The champions’ head coach, Mike Brown, said simply of his leader: Brunson understands what winning means.
The road to the Finals
New York finished the regular season 53-29 and came through the East almost without pause: 4–2 against Atlanta, then two sweeps — against Philadelphia and Cleveland. Across the entire play-offs the Knicks went 16-3. For San Antonio (62-20, second in the West) the road was harder: 4–1 against Portland, 4–2 against Minnesota and seven games in the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City — the team with the best regular-season record.
New York Knicks roster: the champions and the 2026/27 season
The Knicks kept their championship starting five entirely intact. Their regular-season 2025/26 numbers:
- Jalen Brunson, point guard — 26.0 points and 6.8 assists, All-NBA Second Team;
- Mikal Bridges — 14.4 points, all 82 games of the season;
- O.G. Anunoby — 16.7 points, 48.4% from the field and 38.6% from beyond the arc;
- Josh Hart — 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists;
- Karl-Anthony Towns, centre — 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds.
Brunson is 1.88 m tall, has been in the league since 2018, and in 2022 joined New York from Dallas on a four-year, $104m contract. Before his arrival the club had won just one play-off series in 21 seasons; with him they have won at least one in each of the past four seasons. Mike Brown is starting his second season in charge of the team.
The main loss of the summer is centre Mitchell Robinson. He spent all eight seasons of his career in New York but on 1 July agreed a three-year, $47.4m deal with Boston. Veteran Andre Drummond (one year, about $3.9m) becomes Towns’s backup. The Knicks re-signed Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, Mohamed Diawara and Jordan Clarkson, while the bench is rounded out by Miles McBride and Tyler Kolek. Club owner James Dolan is keeping the payroll below the second luxury-tax apron.
The Knicks began their title defence with a defeat. On 20 October, right after the banner ceremony, Philadelphia won 106-100 at Madison Square Garden. Towns was the best for the hosts with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey scored 28 for the visitors.
San Antonio Spurs: roster, coach and Wembanyama
The San Antonio Spurs’ head coach is Mitch Johnson. In the summer Billy Donovan, former head coach of Oklahoma City and Chicago, joined his staff, while assistant Sean Sweeney left to take charge of Orlando. The San Antonio Spurs roster has barely changed, with the core of the finalists in place: Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper. In addition, the Spurs kept Harrison Barnes, signed forward Tobias Harris (two years, $31m) and drafted two big men — Tarris Reed Jr. and Jaden Quaintance. Centres Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee have departed.
Victor Wembanyama stats: 2025/26 season and Finals
Victor Wembanyama is a French forward-centre standing 2.24 m tall, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft. He is 22 years old, and the 2026/27 season is his fourth in the league. In the summer he extended his contract with the Spurs for five years and $252m.
Wembanyama’s regular-season 2025/26 stats: 64 games, 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks per game on average. He was named Defensive Player of the Year, made the All-NBA First Team and finished third in the MVP voting. In the play-offs, in 22 games, he averaged 23.8 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.
In the NBA Finals Wemby averaged 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 blocks while shooting 42.3% from the field. His best game was game three, the only one the Spurs won: 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting. In game five he had 5 blocks and 14 rebounds but scored only 19 points. San Antonio’s new season also began with a defeat: on 20 October at home Oklahoma City won 116-104.
NBA MVP 2026 and other awards
Oklahoma City finished the regular season 64-18, the best record in the league, and began it with 24 wins in 25 games — equalling an NBA record. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row: 31.1 points per game on 55.3% shooting from the field. He is the 14th player in history to win MVP in back-to-back seasons and the first guard to average 30+ points on 55% shooting. Nikola Jokić and Wembanyama finished second and third in the voting.
The other awards:
- Rookie of the Year — Cooper Flagg of Dallas;
- Defensive Player of the Year — Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio;
- Sixth Man — his team-mate Keldon Johnson;
- Most Improved Player — Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Atlanta;
- Clutch Player of the Year — Gilgeous-Alexander again;
- Coach of the Year — Boston’s head coach Joe Mazzulla.
The summer that changed everything
NBA Draft 2026
On 23 June in Brooklyn, Washington selected BYU forward A.J. Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick. With the second pick Utah took Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, and with the third Memphis took Duke forward Cameron Boozer.
Antetokounmpo to Miami
At the end of June Milwaukee traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat. Bobby Portis went with him to Miami, while the Bucks received Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakučionis and a package of draft picks.
Brown and James to Philadelphia
Boston, who had offered Jaylen Brown to Milwaukee in the Antetokounmpo talks, sent him to Philadelphia on 1 July for Paul George and draft picks. Brown had the best season of his career — 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists — while Jayson Tatum recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
And on 24 July LeBron James moved to Philadelphia: a two-year, $8m contract with a player option. After eight years with the Lakers, the 41-year-old James begins a record 24th season in the league with what is already his fourth club. Together with Joel Embiid, Maxey and Brown, this is the most star-studded line-up of the off-season, although a season earlier the Sixers (45-37) had been swept by the Knicks in the second round. The new-look Philadelphia’s first game ended in a win in New York.
When the 2026/27 NBA season starts and what lies ahead
The 2026/27 NBA season, the 81st regular season in the league’s history, began on Tuesday, 20 October. The opening night was a triple-header:
- Detroit 121-113 Boston;
- New York 100-106 Philadelphia, James’s debut for the Sixers and the championship banner ceremony;
- San Antonio 104-116 Oklahoma City, a repeat of the Western Conference finals.
The NBA Cup group stage starts on 30 October, with the tournament final on 11 December; from this season the semi-finals are hosted by the arenas of the higher-seeded teams. On Christmas Day the league will show five games. The day opens with a repeat of the NBA Finals 2026: the Knicks host the Spurs in New York, and in the evening James travels with Philadelphia to face his former team-mates in Los Angeles. The All-Star Game will take place on 19–21 February in Phoenix, and the regular season will end on 11 April 2027.
The picture ahead of the start is clear. The Knicks are defending their title, San Antonio with Wembanyama have already reached the Finals and look like a team built for years to come, Oklahoma City still have the MVP, and the East has become noticeably more crowded with the new Philadelphia and Miami. Why NBA players’ numbers are higher than in Europe is explained by the length of the game — see our breakdown of the differences between FIBA and NBA rules.
Frequently asked questions about the NBA Finals 2026
Who won the NBA Finals 2026?
The New York Knicks. They beat the San Antonio Spurs and became champions for the first time since 1973.
What was the final score of the NBA Finals 2026?
4–1 in favour of the Knicks. The decisive fifth game on 13 June in San Antonio ended 94-90.
Who was named MVP of the NBA Finals 2026?
Jalen Brunson. All 11 members of the panel voted for him, and he scored 45 points in the fifth game.
How many years had the Knicks gone without a championship?
53 years: before 2026, New York’s last title was won in 1973.
Who is the San Antonio Spurs’ coach?
Mitch Johnson. From the 2026/27 season Billy Donovan is his senior assistant.
When does the 2026/27 NBA season start?
The season began on 20 October 2026, and the regular season will end on 11 April 2027.
