The power of friendship prevailed in the 2025-26 NBA season, as the New York Knicks earned the NBA’s first “double”, winning their first championship since 1973 after bringing home the Emirates NBA Cup in December.
Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — national championship-winning teammates at Villanova — formed the core of an unshakable Knicks squad, joining forces with Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby to run through the playoffs, posting a 13-game winning streak and the highest postseason point differential in league history (+283).
This included the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history in Game 4, as the Knicks stormed back from a 29-point deficit to win on Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in, which lifted them to a 107-106 lead with 1.2 seconds remaining and instantly became one of the great plays in New York sports history, dubbed the “Hand of OG” — an homage to Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup.
Coach Mike Brown integrated a talented bench, including Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Brooklyn native Jose Alvarado, building depth that overcame every challenge, including Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs in a hard-fought five-game NBA Finals.
Chasing History: 2026 NBA Finals
Witness the defining 5-game clash between the Knicks and Spurs in the NBA Finals, which resulted in New York seizing glory.
Wembanyama took his team to the league’s ultimate showcase in his first playoff appearance, overcoming Kia Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – who won the award for the second straight season – and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game classic of a Western Conference Finals to get there.
The Knicks rolled through the Eastern Conference playoffs, as the Boston Celtics – who entered the postseason with great momentum after Jayson Tatum’s return from injury – fell to the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time since 1982, losing in seven games as Joel Embiid helped his squad overcome their historic rival.
New York was down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round before beginning their historic winning streak, which stretched to the second-longest in NBA Playoff history (2017 Golden State Warriors, 15) before being snapped by the Spurs in their sole victory of the Finals, a 115-111 victory in Game 3.
It was an incredibly close Finals, despite the abbreviated five-game span. The Spurs contested every loss into clutch time.
This was the first NBA Finals where the score was within five points in the final five minutes of every contest. Each team scored exactly 522 points in the series. It was the first time the Finals featured two single-point margins of victory since 1975.
The young Spurs gave a strong account of themselves, building on a historic regular season for ‘The Alien.’ Wemby became the league’s first unanimous Kia Defensive Player of the Year during the regular season. He also took the Spurs to the Emirates NBA Cup 2025 Final, where they fell to the Knicks in what proved to be a championship preview.
The Thunder led the league with 64 wins, with the Spurs right behind at 62. The Detroit Pistons earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 60 wins, eventually falling in a seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinals series to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were defeated by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
During the regular season, LeBron James, in his 23rd season, set the all-time total wins record, including playoffs and regular season combined. He surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 1,228 victories and reached 1,236 by season’s end. He also passed Robert Parish’s record of 1,611 regular season games played, hitting 1,622 by the end of the campaign.
Look back at SGA’s record-breaking streak of 20+ point games.
SGA also made history during the season, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain (126, 1961-62) to post the longest streak of 20+ point regular season performances in NBA history. He’ll enter the 2026-27 campaign at 140 and counting.
Nikola Jokić averaged a triple-double for the second time in his career (27.7 ppg, 12.9 reb, 10.7 ast). 12-time All-Star Chris Paul retired after 21 seasons. Stephen Curry became the first NBA player to make 5,000+ 3-pointers in his career.
Notable midseason moves included former MVP James Harden being traded from the LA Clippers to the Cavaliers for Darius Garland, while Trae Young was sent to the Washington Wizards – as was Anthony Davis, who was dealt to end his short tenure with the Dallas Mavericks after previously being acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers for Luka Dončić a year prior.
Dončić won the scoring title (33.5 ppg) over Gilgeous-Alexander (31.1 ppg). Anthony Edwards, who earned the Kobe Bryant Trophy as the MVP of the new-look, round-robin All-Star Game, finished third (28.5 ppg).
2026 NBA All-Star Game: MVP Anthony Edwards dazzles, leading USA Stars to victory
Check out the best plays from Anthony Edwards’ MVP-winning performance at the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat won the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest, while the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, out all season with an Achilles injury, made a cameo to win the State Farm 3-Point Contest.
The Clippers posted a historic turnaround to make the 2026 NBA SoFi Play-In Tournament, starting the season 6-21 before rallying to finish with a 42-40 record. They were the first team in NBA history to fall 15 games below .500 and post a winning campaign.
Jaylen Brown, who ultimately finished sixth in Kia MVP voting, helped keep the Celtics afloat with Tatum recovering. Coach of the Year Joe Mazzulla and Executive of the Year Brad Stevens delivered the roster and coaching to support a run to the second seed in the East.
Jokić finished second in MVP voting, followed by Wembanyama, Dončić, Cade Cunningham and Brown. The top five finishers were each voted to the All-NBA First Team.
Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick out of Duke, won a close Kia Rookie of the Year race over college teammate Kon Knueppel.
Flagg led the Mavericks in total points (1,473), rebounds (466), assists (316), and steals (84), becoming the second rookie in league history to top his team in all four categories (Michael Jordan, 1984-85) while Knueppel set the rookie record for 3-pointers (274), eclipsing Keegan Murray’s 206 in 2022-23.
Flagg set the all-time scoring record for a teenager by dropping 51 points against the Orlando Magic on April 3, 2026. The next night, he put up 45, becoming the second rookie (Walt Bellamy, 1962) to post back-to-back 45+ point performances.
Before turning 19 partway through the year, Flagg also broke LeBron James’ scoring record for an 18-year-old by putting up 42 earlier in the season.
He was six days older than James when he took home Rookie of the Year (19 years and 112 days to 19 years and 106 days), becoming the second-youngest player to earn the award.
Eastern Conference Play-In
Philadelphia 76ers defeated Orlando Magic (for 7th seed)
Charlotte Hornets defeated Miami Heat (in 9-10 game)
Orlando Magic defeated Charlotte Hornets (for 8th seed)
Western Conference Play-In
Portland Trail Blazers defeated Phoenix Suns (for 7th seed)
Golden State Warriors defeated LA Clippers (in 9-10 game)
Phoenix Suns defeated Golden State Warriors (for 8th seed)
Eastern Conference first round
Detroit Pistons defeated Orlando Magic (4-3)
Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Toronto Raptors (4-3)
New York Knicks defeated Atlanta Hawks (4-2)
Philadelphia 76ers defeated Boston Celtics (4-3)
Western Conference first round
Oklahoma City Thunder defeated Phoenix Suns (4-0)
Los Angeles Lakers defeated Houston Rockets (4-2)
Minnesota Timberwolves defeated Denver Nuggets (4-2)
San Antonio Spurs defeated Portland Trail Blazers (4-1)
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Detroit Pistons (4-3)
New York Knicks defeated Philadelphia 76ers (4-0)
Western Conference Semifinals
Oklahoma City Thunder defeated Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)
San Antonio Spurs defeated Minnesota Timberwolves (4-2)
Eastern Conference Finals
New York Knicks defeated Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)
Western Conference Finals
San Antonio Spurs defeated Oklahoma City Thunder (4-3)
NBA Finals
New York Knicks defeated San Antonio Spurs (4-1)
Points — Luka Dončić, 33.5 pts
Assists — Nikola Jokić, 10.7 ast
Rebounds — Nikola Jokić, 12.9 reb
Steals — Ausar Thompson and Dyson Daniels, 2.0 stl
Blocks — Victor Wembanyama, 3.1 blk
FG% — Rudy Gobert, 68.2%
FT% — Cam Spencer, 94.0%
3PT% — Luke Kennard, 47.8%
3PM — Kon Knueppel, 273
Kia Most Valuable Player — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Kia Rookie of the Year — Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Kia Defensive Player of the Year — Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Kia Most Improved Player — Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks
Kia Sixth Man of the Year — Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Kia Clutch Player of the Year — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
NBA Coach of the Year — Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP — Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP — Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Bill Russell Finals MVP — Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
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