Relive the final 5:08 of Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals as the New York Knicks completed an unforgettable comeback to capture their first NBA championship since 1973.
Trailing by 16 points earlier in the game, the Knicks closed strong behind a historic performance from Jalen Brunson, who scored 45 points and 15 in the fourth quarter to lead New York to a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Posts tagged as “Game 5”
The New York Knicks ended a 53-year drought by capturing the 2026 NBA championship, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 4-1. The series was defined by New York’s late-game execution and historic comebacks, notably rallying from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 and erasing a double-digit lead in the Game 5 clincher.
New York’s balanced offensive attack and resilient defense allowed them to win three pivotal games on the road. Point guard Jalen Brunson led the charge, rightfully securing the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award after a breathtaking 45-point masterpiece in Game 5. Karl-Anthony Towns provided critical floor spacing and interior toughness, while Mikal Bridges delivered elite two-way play, anchoring the perimeter defense and hitting timely buckets.
The young Spurs fought valiantly but struggled to maintain large leads under pressure. Victor Wembanyama was a generational force, anchoring the paint with historic shot-blocking while leading his team in scoring. All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox used his blazing speed to dictate the tempo, while Devin Vassell served as a reliable secondary scorer. Ultimately, New York’s veteran poise proved too much for the rising Spurs.
NEW YORK KNICKS WIN 1ST TITLE SINCE ’73
Jalen Brunson scored 45 PTS (15 in 4Q) for New York, as they rallied from down 16 PTS to win their FIRST title in 53 years and their third title in franchise history with a 94-90 win in Game 5 over the Spurs.
Jeff Zillgitt, reporting for NBA.COM;
The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t reach 69 points in Game 4 until 5:04 remained in the game.
They matched that total by halftime of Game 5 as the Thunder constructed their best offensive game of the Western Conference Finals and defeated the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 Tuesday for a 3-2 series lead.
Two-time Kia MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame a turnover-plagued start and scored at least 30 points for the second time in the series; the Thunder’s two 7-footers, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein produced offensively and limited Victor Wembanyama’s dominance in the paint; and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s change to the lineup paid dividends for the starters and the bench.
Playing with the force that Daigneault said was missing in their Game 4 loss, the defending champions are one victory from a return trip to the NBA Finals.
This series has become a classic where neither team does not want to give up and neither coach does run out of adjustment to make. It’ll be interesting what adjustment will the Spurs make in game 6, to extend this to a winner take all game 7.
Greg Beacham, AP Sports Writer and published on NBA.Com;
Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points, Tari Eason added 18 and the Houston Rockets avoided playoff elimination for the second straight game with a 99-93 victory over the Lakers in Game 5 on Wednesday night, trimming Los Angeles’ lead in the first-round series to 3-2.
Alperen Sengun had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who sent the series back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday night with a gritty performance to overcome Austin Reaves’ return to the Lakers.
Houston has won two straight even without top scorer Kevin Durant, who has missed four of the series’ five games with injuries.
The Rockets’ Game 3 blunder is the only reason the Lakers aren’t the ones on the verge of elimination.
Game 6 will be back in Houston this Friday night.
Game highlights;
Jabari Smith Jr. stepped up big to keep the Rockets season alive!
🚀 22 PTS
🚀 6-13 FGM
🚀 7 REB
🚀 2 BLKFrom down 3-0 to down 3-2… Game 6 is Friday at 9:30 PM ET on Prime. pic.twitter.com/8ErP6EYsUG
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2026
AYTON BLOCK.
RUI THREE.7-0 Lakers run… it's a 6-point game!
Under 5 minutes left in Game 5 🍿 pic.twitter.com/4ZCAsdeuyN
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2026
ROCKETS STAVE OFF ELIMINATION AGAIN.
FROM DOWN 3-0, TO DOWN 3-2 🚨
Game 6: Friday, 9:30pm/et, Prime pic.twitter.com/lfjBYyffAb
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2026
REED SHEPPARD. CLUTCH.
The jumper, the steal, the flush… Houston's lead is back up to 7 with 2:20 remaining!
They can force Game 6 with a W 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ktycOoOcEh
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2026
The Rockets defeated the Lakers, 99-93 tonight in Los Angeles. Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 22 points to go with 7 rebounds and 4 three pointers, while Tari Eason contributed 18 points (6-11 FG, 2-6 3P) in the game. LeBron James finished with a team-high 25 points along with 7 assists for the Lakers in the losing effort. The Lakers lead the series 3-2.
see you for Game 5.#FeverWin pic.twitter.com/wgDtFa90er
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 28, 2025
After losing Game 3, the Indiana Fever bounced back to defeat the Las Vegas Aces and force a winner-take-all Game 5 of the 2025 WNBA Semis.
Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 25 points, on the other hand, Aliyah Boston had a monster game of 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists, along with 2 blocks and 2 steals, despite guarding A’ja Wilson for the entirety of the game. Odyssey Sims was a big factor with 18 points. Lexie Hull despite scoring only 7 points, she was the engine that powered the Fever’s defense, Hull grabbed 7 rebounds, with 4 steals and 1 block.
Kelsey Mitchell in Game 4 win over Las Vegas:
25 PTS | 4 AST | 3 REB pic.twitter.com/6rejPwsC2f
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 28, 2025
AB went to work in Game 4 💪
24 PTS | 14 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL https://t.co/VSkRLDsQhw pic.twitter.com/VtxBbPIwoR
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 28, 2025
Odyssey Sims gets her defender in the air and goes off glass for the basket 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/uwuu9Qv5zg
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 28, 2025
The Indiana Fever won the game even though the Aces got a big performance from 4-time MVP A’ja Wilson. She scored 31 points and 9 rebounds and was also a force on the defensive end with 4 steals and 3 blocks. Jackie Young added 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Aside from Wilson and Young, the rest of the Aces were a non-factor. The team even committed a technical foul when Head Coach Becky Hammon mistakenly called an extra timeout with 30.1 seconds left in the game. This mistake cost the Aces possession, and the Fever were able to capitalize by making the technical free throw and the two free throws by Odyssey Sims when she was fouled by Chelsea Gray, creating a 10-point margin (87−77).
Game Highlights
The series will now move back to Las Vegas for the deciding Game 5 this Tuesday, Sept 30th. The pressure will now be on the Aces, considering they are the healthy team, with the reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, and are playing at home. The Indiana Fever, at this point, are already overachieving, with 5 players out due to season-ending injuries and with 2 players who were added only a month ago, simply by pushing the Aces to the brink of elimination.
The OKC Thunder are one win away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy, as they easily defeated an undermanned Indiana Pacers (120-109). OKC built a comfortable 18-point lead in the first half (56-38), but the Pacers slowly chipped away at the lead to trail by just two points (95-93) with 8:30 left in the game. However, the Pacers were not able to take the lead, as the Thunder went on a 25-16 run.
Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points and 10 assists. OKC also got a lot of help from their bench players, with Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace adding 14 points and 11 points, respectively.
LATE TAKEOVER IN GAME 5 PUTS OKC ONE WIN FROM TITLE 🏆
JDub: 40 PTS
SGA: 31 PTS, 10 AST pic.twitter.com/crknMKBrpr— NBA (@NBA) June 17, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton, who was playing with an ankle injury that he aggravated in the first quarter, was limited throughout the game. He failed to make a single field goal the whole game, with all of his 4 points coming from the free-throw line. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, while T.J. McConnell added 18 points and Aaron Nesmith had 14.
Game 6 will be in Indiana, and the Pacers will have one more chance to extend this to Game 7 and prevent OKC from celebrating on their home court.
The Indiana Pacers have once again showed us that they’re one of the top franchise in the Eastern Conference, by eliminating the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers with a final score of 114-105 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-final series. This will be the second consecutive year the Pacers have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, a feat they haven’t achieved in more than a decade.
Despite a strong start from the Cavaliers, the Pacers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second quarter, took control in the third, and built a 12-point lead after halftime. Notably, the Pacers won all three games at Cleveland’s homecourt in the series.
a fantastic finish to a 4-1 series win over the Cavaliers 🥶 pic.twitter.com/8cyqppa8ak
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 14, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton led the charge for Indiana with 31 points, including five crucial three-pointers in the second quarter that sparked the Pacers’ comeback. Haliburton also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 8 assists. Pascal Siakam contrrbuted a solid 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Donovan Mitchell, playing through left ankle injury, led the Cavaliers with a game-high 35 points and 9 rebounds, while Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 rebounds. However, the Cavaliers struggled with their shooting, particularly from beyond the arc, converting only 9 of their 35 three-point attempts. The Pacers’ defense tightened in the 3rd quater, limiting the Cavaliers’ to just 20 points against the Pacers’ 33 points.
The Pacers now await the winner of the other Eastern Conference semi-final matchup between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.
The Denver Nuggets just bagged their first NBA Championship after defeating the Miami Heat in a one of the lowest scoring game in the series (94-89).
In the first half, Miami was poised to take the series back home until Nikola Jokic carried the Nuggets with with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Jokic also took home the Bill Russell trophy as the NBA Finals MVP, which carry more weight than the 2021 and 2022 Regular Season MVP trophies.
Nuggets Nation… we know how you’re feeling
BUT LET US KNOW 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/zTvEKkLguB
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023
Nuggets outlast the Heat in a game that’s more favorable to the style of Miami Heat, a low scoring, physical and close game, no team lead more than 2 points in the last 2 minutes of the game. It was in the closing minutes that made the difference; Bruce Brown got an offensive rebound and tip-in to give the Nuggets, then Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope capitalize on a Heat turnover and made two free throws each that sealed the title for Denver.
CHEERS 🥂#ToastWithMoet | #bRINGItIn pic.twitter.com/SIL53FlU9l
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023
This is the first time in the franchise’s 47 years in the league and if they keep the core players, we may see the Nuggets making a deep run in every year, lead by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
Our 2023 collection. pic.twitter.com/m6TdG7cgEK
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023
In another shooting clinic, the Boston Celtics easily dispatch the Miami Heat at home to further extend the series to game 6 and putting more pressure to Jimmy Butler and company to close the series in Miami.
Four Boston players scored more than 20-pts with at least 1 three-points made. Derrick White lead the Celtics with 24-pts, making 6 of 8 three-points shot. Jason Tatum once again made sure that his teammates are in the game by dishing a team-high 11 assists, he also scored 21 pts and 8 rebs. Smart and Brown also chipped-in scoring 23 points and 21 points, respectively. As good as their offense, it was their defense that won the game for Boston. As a team the Boston Celtics made 13 steals, 37 rebounds and 4 blocks with just 9 turnover.
That's two ✅✅#UnfinishedBusiness pic.twitter.com/0jmVpTwPT6
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 26, 2023
Jimmy Butler in his postgame interview said “We’re always going to stay positive, knowing that we can and we will win the series… We just have to close it out at home.” Butler scored 14 points with 5 rebs and 5 assist but was -24 in the plus/minus column. Miami’s leading scorer is Duncan Robinson with 18 points and 9 assists. Bam Adebayo added 16 points and eight rebounds but -15 in the plus/minus. Caleb Martin finished with 14 points, while Gabe Vincent sat out of the game due to an ankle injury.
Boston Celtics are two wins away in becoming the first NBA team to come back from a 0-3 deficit. Game 6 of Eastern Conference Finals will be at Miami this Saturday evening at the Kaseya Center.
The @celtics win Game 5!
BOS defeats @cavs 96-83 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals!
Jayson Tatum: 24 PTS, 7 REB, 4 STL
Jaylen Brown: 17 PTS
Al Horford: 15 PTS, 12 REB
Marcus Smart: 13 PTS, 4 AST#CUsRise #NBAPlayoffsLeBron: 26 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST pic.twitter.com/7XYlcq7uCr
— NBA (@NBA) May 24, 2018
Boston Celtics are one win away from ending James’ dominance in the East.



