Knicks’ Jalen Brunson joins Michael Jordan in NBA Finals history with dominant closeout Game 5

New York Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson will never ever have to buy his own beer in The Apple.

To say that Brunson delivered for the Knicks in the NBA Finals would be a huge understatement.

With a chance to close out the series against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, the former Villanova Wildcats star put on a performance for the ages, dropping 45 points on 14-for-27 shooting from the field with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 41 minutes of action in New York’s title-clinching 94-90 victory.

In fact, that was just the second 45-point showing in an NBA Finals closeout game in history. The other one to do it? Some guy who goes by the name Michael Jordan, according to StatMuse.

The Spurs held the lead for most of the contest, but just like in Game 4, Brunson and the Knicks refused to lose and battled back to notch a come-from-behind win. San Antonio was ahead by as many as 16 points in Game 5, with Brunson and company catching up in the fourth quarter to snatch the lead and have a strong finish to clinch the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Knicks’ championship came 53 years after their last one in 1973. Brunson led New York in ending that long and painful drought for one of the most storied franchises in pro sports, and it’s a title that wouldn’t have likely been possible without the heroics and leadership of Brunson, who signed with New York in 2022 after four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

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