Red Holzman’s Knicks won the franchise’s first two titles in 1970 and 1973. Then the wait began.

The last time New York even reached the Finals, in the lockout-shortened 1999 season, the San Antonio Spurs beat them in five games.

1. 1970First title under Red Holzman
2. 1973Second title, the last one for 53 years
3. 1999Finals loss to the Spurs in five games
4. 2022Jalen Brunson signs as a free agent
5. 2025Conference finals loss to Indiana; Mike Brown replaces Tom Thibodeau
6. June 13, 2026Champions again

The previous record for the longest gap between two titles belonged to Milwaukee, which went 50 years from 1971 to 2021.

In Mike Brown’s first season, the Knicks went 53-29, their most wins since 2012-13, and finished third in the East.

They had already lifted one trophy by then. On Dec. 16 in Las Vegas they beat the Spurs 124-113 to win the NBA Cup.

2025-26 East standings, top four (wins)

The core was the one Leon Rose and William Wesley had built: Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, with Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado off the bench.

The playoffs started shakily. New York trailed Atlanta 2-1 in the first round, then won three straight to close it out in six.

After that the Knicks didn’t lose again for a month. They swept Philadelphia, swept Cleveland, and won the first two games of the Finals for 13 straight playoff wins, the second-longest streak in NBA history.

Playoff wins by round

San Antonio had gone 62-20 and beaten the defending champion Thunder in seven games in the West finals. Victor Wembanyama was the league’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.

The Spurs led by double digits in all five Finals games. They won only one.

1. Game 1, June 3Knicks 105, Spurs 95. New York erased a 14-point deficit and closed on an 11-0 run.
2. Game 2, June 5Knicks 105, Spurs 104. Wembanyama's turnover and foul in the last 10 seconds decided it.
3. Game 3, June 8Spurs 115, Knicks 111. Wembanyama scored 32 at the Garden.
4. Game 4, June 10Knicks 107, Spurs 106. Down 29 in the third quarter, the largest comeback in Finals history.
5. Game 5, June 13Knicks 94, Spurs 90 in San Antonio.

Game 4 ended with Anunoby tipping in Brunson’s missed three with 1.2 seconds left. New York led that night for only 53.8 seconds.

Biggest deficit the Knicks overcame in each win (points)

In Game 5 the Spurs held the Knicks to 13 first-quarter points and led by 10 with less than eight minutes left. Towns was in foul trouble and would foul out.

Brunson scored 10 straight points to tie it at 83 and finished with 45, 15 of them in the fourth quarter, on 14-of-27 shooting and 13-of-15 at the line.

Brunson's points, game by game

He was the unanimous Finals MVP. Only Michael Jordan had also scored 45 on the road in a title-clinching game. His father, Rick, a Knicks assistant and a member of that 1999 team, was on the bench.

The city threw the team its first ticker-tape parade on June 18. The Finals averaged 20.6 million viewers in the United States, the most since 1998.

Now the Garden gets its banner. The Knicks open the 2026-27 season at home against the 76ers on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia, the team New York swept in May, arrives with two new faces: LeBron James, starting a record 24th season, and Jaylen Brown, both making their 76ers debuts.

Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Bridges and Hart are back as the starting five.

1. Oct. 20Banner raised, then the 76ers at the Garden
2. Oct. 30At Philadelphia to open the NBA Cup defense
3. Dec. 25Finals rematch with the Spurs at the Garden