The New York Knicks completed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, erasing a 29-point deficit against the San Antonio Spurs and winning Game 4, 107-106, on OG Anunoby's putback tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining. The series lead is 3-1, and the franchise that has not won a title since 1973 needs one win in San Antonio to end the longest active drought in the league. [1] Our briefs carry the Anunoby tip-in itself; this piece is about what the night proved.
The previous Finals standard belonged to the 2008 Celtics, who erased 24 points against the Lakers in Game 4. New York beat that number by five while beating a team that shot 65 percent from the field in the first quarter. [2] The Spurs scored 41 points in that opening period, built the largest halftime lead any visiting team has held in Finals history, and led by 29 — numbers that described a blowout, not a classic. The box score will show the Knicks won the fourth quarter 33-22. It cannot show the Garden, which went from Mike Breen noting how quiet the building was to "BEDLAM HERE AT THE GARDEN" inside three quarters of clock time. [3]
The Collapse
San Antonio dominated the first half with pace and shooting — eleven three-pointers by the third quarter — and the game appeared decided at multiple checkpoints. [3] Then the math changed faster than the matchups did. A 20-4 run brought the deficit to four with 4:32 left. Jalen Brunson, who finished with 36 points, hit a 26-footer to pull New York within one at 104-103 with 2:21 to go. [3]
The finish required two possessions and one instruction. Out of a timeout, the Knicks chased the miss instead of the make — Anunoby inbounded, doubled defenders funneled Brunson into the lane, and Anunoby followed the miss with his fingertips. Coach Mike Brown called it "the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball," which is the kind of sentence a man says once and gets to keep. [2]
What the Night Is Worth
The receipts extend past the scoreline. This was the second Finals ever with two games decided by a single point, the first since 1975, and it happened inside the sport's most valuable ratings story in a generation: a Knicks-Spurs series already averaging levels of audience the league has not seen since Jordan retired. [2] A five-game Finals with a 53-year drought on one side and Wembanyama on the other is a rights-holder's fantasy; Game 4 turned it into an infomercial. Every network selling sports inventory next month will screen the last ninety seconds of this game.
For the franchise, the arithmetic is older. New York's last championship came in 1973; closing this out would complete the longest gap between titles in league history. [1] The rebuilt roster around Brunson and Anunoby was assembled precisely for nights the front office could not schedule. For the Spurs, the collapse is the tuition on a young core — a 29-point lead in a Finals game converts more future ticket revenue into doubt than any loss this season.
Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio, where the Spurs must win to force the series back to New York. The Knicks have won every closeout game they have played this season. History now says they erase anything. [1] [3]
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos