The New York Knicks moved within one win of the NBA championship after coming from 29 points down to beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.
OG Anunoby Tip-In Puts Knicks Up 3-1
OG Anunoby supplied the final touch, tipping in Jalen Brunson's missed 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining. The basket gave New York a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and three chances to win the franchise's first title since 1973.
The comeback was the largest recorded in an NBA Finals game since detailed play-by-play for all four quarters began in 1997. AP noted that the previous Finals high was Boston's 24-point comeback against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.
Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points, and Anunoby finished with 33. Those numbers mattered more because New York had spent most of the night looking less like a champion-in-waiting than a team trying to locate the exits without making eye contact.
San Antonio Spurs Lose 29-Point Lead
The Spurs led 81-52 in the third quarter and held a 27-point advantage at halftime, the largest halftime lead by a visiting team in Finals history, according to AP. San Antonio made 11 of its first 16 attempts from 3-point range before the game turned hard.
New York outscored San Antonio 58-30 after halftime. The Spurs went 3 for 17 from deep in the second half, and the Knicks held them to 14 points on 4-for-20 shooting in the third quarter while using a 13-0 run to reduce the deficit.
Victor Wembanyama had 24 points and 13 rebounds for San Antonio but shot 9 for 25 from the field. Dylan Harper scored 21 points, while De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell each added 18.
Wembanyama also missed two free throws with 1:47 left and the Spurs leading 104-103. Stephon Castle later put San Antonio back in front with two free throws in the final 30 seconds, but New York still found one more possession and one more rebound.
Game 5 Sends NBA Finals Back To San Antonio
The series now returns to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday night. The Spurs must win three straight to take the title, something only one team has done from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals: the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
That is the math San Antonio faces after a game it controlled for more than two quarters. It is also why New York's win lands beyond ordinary comeback language. The Knicks did not simply survive a bad half; they turned a near-certain loss into a title chance.
For a franchise that had not reached the Finals since 1999 and owns two championships in 80 years, the stakes are blunt. One more win brings the Knicks their first NBA title in more than five decades. One more Spurs response sends the series back to New York for Game 6 next Tuesday.