The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to close out the series 4-1 and claim their first NBA championship since 1973, sparking celebrations across New York City.
Finals MVP Jalen Brunson scored 45 points to secure the title in Texas, just days after his team completed one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.
Trailing by 16 points at one stage and nine early in the final quarter, the Knicks fought back to win with Brunson leading the charge.
"I'm in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it," Brunson told reporters as he tried to hold back tears.
The Knicks tied the game with just under five minutes remaining and took their first lead with 3:40 left on the clock.
The Spurs were unable to regain the lead after that, and the Knicks capped a dominant championship run in which they lost just three games throughout the postseason.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama recorded 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for the young San Antonio side, who will hope to return to the Finals for many years to come.
"This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment," the 22-year-old Frenchman told reporters after the game.
Some Knicks fans have waited their entire lives for this moment after decades of disappointment.
Watch parties across New York City erupted in celebration when the final buzzer sounded, ending a 53-year wait for an NBA championship.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Midtown Manhattan and Times Square, celebrating long into the night.
U.S. President Donald Trump also congratulated Brunson and the team.
"What a year it has been, but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four - maybe the greatest in the history of basketball," he wrote on Truth Social.
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A record-breaking heatwave spread across the eastern U.S. on Wednesday (1 July), placing tens of millions of people under heat alerts just days before the country's 250th Independence Day celebrations.
A Russian couple climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and unfurled a banner urging world peace before, in an apparent elaborate marriage proposal that ended with their arrests.
Manhattan prosecutors have moved to drop a third-degree rape charge against movie producer Harvey Weinstein after his accuser said she no longer wished to testify. The decision ended what could have been a fourth New York trial in the long-running sexual assault case.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be one of a kind when it kicks off on 11 June, as it brings with it a slew of firsts ahead of co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa in the opening match.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has raised its forecast for the rapid emergence of a strong El Niño, warning the climate pattern is likely to drive higher global temperatures and intensify extreme weather in the months ahead.
India is investigating a data breach at Tata Electronics that exposed sensitive documents linked to Apple's unreleased iPhone 18 Pro, marking the government's first public comments on the incident.
International politicians and religious leaders have paid respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei throughout the day, ahead of his six day funeral ceremony which begins on Saturday. His casket is currently on display at the Iman Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran.
Germany has requested urgent talks with China's ambassador following reports that Chinese authorities trained Russian soldiers, adding fresh strain to relations between Beijing and Europe amid the war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump said Iran is keen to reach a deal with the United States, claiming Washington had paused engagement to allow funeral ceremonies for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
West Africa's Al Qaeda affiliate, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on military positions in Mali on Saturday (4 July) and said it had seized control of at least five of them.
Russia's Defence Ministry has said its forces are clearing the town of Lyman in Donetsk of Ukrainian forces, Moscow's state news agency Tass reported. Meanwhile, Russian attacks killed at least six people across three Ukrainian regions on Friday, regional officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to use next week's NATO summit in Ankara to advance his push for greater European responsibility in security, with a bilateral meeting planned with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Paris seeks closer coordination with key allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump on the 250th anniversary of American independence, saying Russia and the United States share a special responsibility for maintaining global security as the world's two largest nuclear powers.
China said on Saturday it had launched a coast guard patrol east of Taiwan, prompting a strong protest from Taipei, which accused Beijing of illegally expanding its authority and undermining regional stability.
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