Knicks Universe Presents · The 2025–26 Season
The Run
From the ashes of last year's heartbreak to the NBA Championship — the story of how New York ended 53 years of waiting and brought a title home.
Prologue
A New Coach. A New Chapter.
The Indiana Pacers series in 2025 was a missed opportunity. Coaching decisions were seen as the main reason — and for that Thibs paid the price with his job.
On July 7, 2025, the Knicks hired Mike Brown — a coach with four championship rings as an assistant, a deep coaching résumé, and a completely different philosophy. Where Thibs gripped his rotation tight, Brown would go to the bench. Where Thibs isolated on half-court sets, Brown would preach ball movement, spacing, and what he called "sprays" — drive-and-kick reads that opened shooters all over the floor.
Early results validated the coaching change as New York won the NBA Cup in December - but then January happened.
New York
vs.
Atlanta
New York wins series 4–2
Nobody said it would be easy. The Hawks took Games 2 and 3 in agonizing fashion, with CJ McCollum's 32-point eruption in Game 2 tying the series at one. For a moment, New York fans held their breath.
Then the Knicks remembered who they were. Game 4 was a turning point — Brown routed the offense through Karl-Anthony Towns in the high post, unlocking a flow of assists and open threes that Atlanta simply couldn't contain. Games 5 and 6 were a statement. The 51-point blowout in the closeout was New York at its most terrifying.
KAT re-routes the offense from the high post in Game 4 — a tactical adjustment that would define the rest of the playoff run.
New York
vs.
Philly
New York wins series 4–0 · SWEEP
This wasn't a series. It was a coronation. The Knicks outscored opponents by 194 points over 10 playoff games — the best point differential in a 10-game postseason span in NBA history.
Game 4 in Philadelphia was one for the ages. Deuce McBride — with Knicks fans having taken over Xfinity Mobile Arena — hit four straight 3-pointers in the first quarter, the first Knick to ever do that in a playoff game. New York sank 25 three-pointers total, tying multiple NBA single-game records on their way to a 144-114 demolition.
Philadelphia's Joel Embiid quietly pointed to the ticket-buying habits of Knicks fans as a recurring problem. The message was clear: wherever the Knicks played, it felt like Madison Square Garden.
Knicks fans waved brooms inside the Sixers' arena, chanting "Deuuuce" while McBride went supernova in the first quarter of Game 4. Embiid said: "Don't sell tickets to Knicks fans."
I just love that I get to get my teammates involved, and I get the chance to quarterback the offense and put them in positions that I feel they could succeed — and they've obliged.
— Karl-Anthony Towns, after Knicks' Game 2 win over the Sixers
New York
vs.
Cleveland
New York wins series 4–0 · ECF CHAMPIONS · SWEEP
The moment 53 years of waiting collapsed into a single roar. The Knicks swept the Cavaliers and punched their ticket to the NBA Finals.
Cleveland arrived battle-tested after back-to-back seven-game wars and believed the Knicks' nine-day layoff had cooled a red-hot offense. They were wrong on both counts. New York was rusty and out of sorts for most of Game 1 but found their rhythm with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Brunson led the Knicks on one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history, as they rallied from a 22-point deficit. In Game 2 without breaking a sweat — Hart found his stroke scoring a playoff career high of 26 points as he went 5 from 11 from 3-point range, torching Cleveland's defensive strategy of focusing more attention on Brunson.
The Knicks never let Cleveland breathe. Many thought that the Cavs out of sheer pride would not allow themselves to be swept, but the Knicks proved to be too much for them. KAT led the Knicks to a 37-point rout with 19 points and 14 rebounds to complete the sweep and punch the Knicks' ticket to the Finals for the first time since 1999.
Jalen Brunson dribbles out the final seconds in Cleveland. Across New York City, from the Garden to every bar in every borough, 53 years of waiting erupts into one unified roar.
2026 NBA Finals · 🏆 WORLD CHAMPIONS
The Last
Mountain
Conquered.
New York Knicks 4 · San Antonio Spurs 1
WIN
Game by Game
Trailed by 14 in the second half. San Antonio led 95–94 with 2:16 remaining. Brunson hit a corner three to go ahead, then sealed it with a spinning falling jumper. New York closed on an 11–0 run to steal Game 1 — the first team in history to beat the Spurs in a Finals Game 1 (San Antonio had been 6-0).
Led by 14 in Q4, then watched San Antonio rip off 14 straight to tie it. Wembanyama's 3-point play put the Spurs ahead 104–102 with 57 seconds left. Brunson tied it immediately, forced a critical Wemby turnover, then drained the go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds remaining. New York left San Antonio up 2–0.
Wembanyama put on a show — 32 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists — and the Knicks' 13-game winning streak ended at the Garden. New York trailed 33–22 after Q1, roared back to lead 64–57 at halftime, then San Antonio reclaimed control in the third. The Spurs led 111–104 with under 2 minutes left and Castle closed it out at the line.
Down 16 in San Antonio in the fourth quarter of Game 5, Jalen Brunson decided the championship would be won tonight. He scored 13 consecutive Knicks points to drag his team across the finish line — finishing with 45 points, a Knicks Finals record, surpassing Willis Reed's mark of 38 set in 1970. It was the perfect ending to the most improbable run in franchise history. Down in every game. Tied or trailing in the final two minutes of every game. Champions anyway.
Knicks Finals Record
by Brunson
at the Half
Playoff Record
1.2 seconds left. Game tied. Brunson heaves a three-pointer from deep — it rattles hard off the rim. OG Anunoby, perfectly positioned, tips it in as the buzzer sounds. The Garden detonates. Coach Mike Brown called it "the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball." Karl-Anthony Towns called it "a right hand from God."
Jalen Brunson dribbles out the final seconds in San Antonio. In New York City — from the Garden to every bar in every borough — 53 years of waiting dissolves into one roar. Brunson: "I have no words. It's everything I ever dreamed of. It's why I came to New York."
I have no words. It's everything I ever dreamed of. It's why I came to New York.
— Jalen Brunson, after winning the 2026 NBA Championship
The Stars of the Run
The Men Making It Happen
The engine. The closer. JB41 has been making the clutch plays when it matters most — from the free throws that win games to the fourth-quarter sequences that break opponents' spirits.
The maestro. KAT's high-post passing has redefined what a Knicks center can be. He's not just scoring — he's creating, orchestrating, and reading the defense like a point forward.
The heart and soul. Hart is the Knicks' Swiss Army knife — relentless on the boards, suffocating on defense, and ice-cold when the moment is biggest. His 26-point explosion in ECF Game 2 set the tone for the sweep and proved he's more than a role player.
New York, whose reserves played the fewest minutes of any team this season, now has a bench coming alive when it matters most. Mike Brown changed everything.
— ESPN Analysis, June 2026