SAN ANTONIO — Jalen Brunson set a franchise NBA Finals record with 45 points and nearly single-handedly ended the 53-year NBA title drought as the New York Knicks recorded a 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.

Brunson scored 29 points in the second half of Game 5 as New York overcame a 15-point third-quarter deficit to win its first NBA championship since 1973. The Knicks won four of the five games in the best-of-seven series.

The Knicks also trailed by 16 points in the second quarter, one game after they rallied from 29 down to beat the Spurs in Game 4 on Wednesday in New York.

Brunson made four 3-pointers while posting his fourth outing of 30 or more points in the series en route to being selecting the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Brunson broke the team record of 38 points set by Hall of Famer Willis Reed in Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Mikal Bridges scored 14 points and Josh Hart registered 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks. OG Anunoby had 11 points and Karl-Anthony Towns collected 10 rebounds before fouling out. Mitchell Robinson also grabbed 10 boards.

Dylan Harper scored 25 points and Victor Wembanyama added 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for San Antonio. Julian Champagnie had 14 points and Devin Vassell added 12.

New York trailed by 10 with under eight minutes to play before Brunson took over with 10 straight points to tie the score at 83 with 4:48 left. Brunson shredded the San Antonio defense by driving for three layups during the spurt.

Vassell knocked down a 17-foot jumper to put San Antonio back ahead at 85-83 with 4:14 left. Brunson then was fouled shooting a 3-pointer 34 seconds later and made all three free throws to give the Knicks a one-point edge.

A short time later, Harper’s basket tied the score at 88 with 1:16 left. But Brunson once again navigated through the defense and made a floater with 1:05 left.

Hart and Anunoby each split two free throws as New York led by four with 21.6 seconds remaining.

Wembanyana missed a 3-pointer on San Antonio’s next possession, but Stephon Castle’s putback dunk brought the Spurs within 92-90 with 16.3 seconds left.

Bridges split two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to give New York a three-point lead before Harper missed two free throws with 8.5 seconds to go.

Anunoby split two free throws with 7.7 seconds left to close it out.

The Knicks made just 35.6% of their shots (31 of 87), including 12 of 37 from 3-point range.

San Antonio connected on 38.4% of its attempts (33 of 86) and also was 12 of 37 from behind the arc.

Vassell and Harper connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and Harper followed with three more points during a 9-0 run to give San Antonio a 68-53 lead with 3:11 left in the third quarter.

A short time later, Hart buried a 3-pointer and Brunson knocked down three free throws after being fouled shooting a trey to start a quarter-ending 10-2 burst. Robinson’s late tip-in brought the Knicks within 72-65 entering the fourth quarter.

Both teams were shaky offensively during a first half that concluded with San Antonio holding a 42-37 lead at the break. New York trailed 31-15 with 8:29 remaining in the half.

–Field Level Media

Christian Walker hit one of Houston’s four homers, reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed the tiebreaking run to score in the ninth and helped the visiting Astros to an 8-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Trailing 7-5, Houston’s Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in the eighth before the game endured a 91-minute rain delay. In the ninth, the Astros had runners on first and third with one out when Alex Lange (0-4) got Walker to bounce into a potential 6-4-3 double play, but second baseman Nick Loftin’s throw was wide of first, allowing a run to score.

The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. doubled, for his third hit, in the ninth, but was doubled off second on Isaac Collins’ liner to end the game.

Yordan Alvarez had three hits for Houston.

The Royals’ Noah Cameron did not allow a hit or walk through the first three innings, then yielded two-run homers to Walker and Brice Matthews, plus five other hits, over the next 1 1/3 before being pulled.

Houston starter Mike Burrows grinded before being lifted after allowing Salvador Perez’s single to open the sixth, and gave up seven hits, two walks and was charged with five runs — four earned.

Kansas City opened the scoring in the second on Michael Massey’s single to right field. In the third, Vinnie Pasquantino’s RBI single put Kansas City up 2-0. Witt, who reached on a soft single for his 800th career hit, then scored via a passed ball. Pasquantino later exited with a right hand/hamate injury.

In the Houston fourth, Alvarez recorded a one-out single and came home via Walker’s drive over the left-field fence. Kansas City got a run back in the bottom of that frame when Lane Thomas went deep into the left-field seats.

The Astros tied it in the fifth, when Jake Meyers reached on an infield single and Matthews homered. They took their first lead in the sixth when Meyers sent a pitch from John Schreiber into the left-center field seats.

However, Carter Jensen’s three-run double split the left-center field gap in the sixth to give Kansas City a 7-5 edge.

Bryan King (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win with a strikeout.

–Field Level Media

Georgia used a four-run first inning and a dominant complete game from Joey Volchko to coast to a 7-1 defeat of Texas in the College World Series opener for both teams on Saturday night in Omaha, Neb.

The Bulldogs (52-12) held the Longhorns (45-14) to just four hits, winning the opening game in their first CWS appearance since 2008. The No. 3 overall seed, Georgia is the highest seed to make it to Omaha after No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Georgia Tech lost in home regionals.

Georgia took a 2-0 lead three batters into the bottom of the first as Tre Phelps worked a leadoff walk and, one out later, Rylan Lujo hit his 14th homer of the season down the left field line. It was originally ruled a foul ball before Georgia challenged and the call was overturned.

The Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the first on a pair of errors from Texas All-American catcher Carson Tinney.

That four-run advantage wound up being more than enough for Volchko (11-2), who allowed one unearned run over nine innings, striking out 15 and walking one.

Georgia tacked on three more unearned runs in the seventh off Texas ace Dylan Volantis (10-2), who allowed seven runs (two earned) on four hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking one.

Lujo and Kenny Ishikawa each had two hits, while Phelps scored two runs for Georgia, which will face Oklahoma in a winner’s bracket game Monday evening for a spot in the semifinals.

Adrian Rodriguez and Ethan Mendoza each had two hits to account for all of Texas’ production. The Longhorns face Alabama, which lost 9-0 to the Sooners earlier in the day, in an elimination game Monday on the all-Southeastern Conference side of the bracket.

–Field Level Media