Anunoby Game-Winning Tip-In Caps Largest Comeback in NBA Finals History as Knicks Take 3-1 Lead Over Spurs
Depending on your perspective, game four of the NBA Finals either featured the greatest comeback or the greatest collapse in NBA Finals history; the San Antonio Spurs led the New York Knicks 81-52 with 9:40 remaining in the third quarter, but OG Anunoby's tip-in of Jalen Brunson's missed three pointer with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning shot as the Knicks prevailed 107-106 to take a 3-1 series lead. The Knicks accomplished the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, and the largest halftime comeback in NBA playoff history. This series has repeatedly featured wild momentum swings--with double digit leads repeatedly being built and squandered by both teams--but at the end the games have consistently been close, and this is just the second NBA Finals with multiple games decided by just one point, with the first being the 1975 Finals when Rick Barry's Golden State Warriors swept the Washington Bullets.
Brunson scored a game-high 36 points on 12-25 field goal shooting while dishing for a game-high tying seven assists, grabbing five rebounds, and swiping a team-high three steals in a game-high 44 minutes. Anunoby had 33 points on 10-15 field goal shooting, including 7-9 from three point range. His blocked shot on De'Aaron Fox' layup attempt with 11.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Knicks the opportunity to take the lead and win the game. Karl-Anthony Towns was the Knicks' only other double figure scorer with 13 points plus a team-high 10 rebounds and a game-high +17 plus/minus numbe. Special mention must be made of reserve guard Jose Alvarado, the Knicks' fourth leading scorer with eight points on 3-4 field goal shooting in 16 minutes. Alvarado tied Brunson and Josh Hart (six points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals) for the team's second best plus/minus number (+11). Alvarado scored all of his points in the fourth quarter when he took the place of the ineffective Mikal Bridges, shooting 3-3 from the field while leading the team with three assists. In the fourth quarter, Brunson (nine points), Anunoby (eight points), and Alvorado (eight points) outscored the Spurs by themselves.
Victor Wembanyama scored a team-high 24 points and corralled a game-high 13 rebounds, but he shot just 9-25 from the field, including 2-8 from three point range. As the Spurs collapsed in the second half, Wembanyama had just eight points on 3-14 field goal shooting. Dylan Harper contributed 21 points off of the bench with a team-high +12 plus/minus number. Fox added 18 points on 6-16 field goal shooting while passing for a game-high tying seven assists. Stephon Castle had 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists, but he shot just 2-7 from the field.
Saying that a game was a "tale of two halves" is an old cliche, but that is a precise description of this game.
The first half tale saw the Spurs leading 76-49 after shooting 28-47 (.595) from the field and committing just two turnovers while holding the Knicks to 15-37 (.405) field goal shooting with seven turnovers. The Spurs shot 14-26 (.538) from beyond the arc while setting NBA Finals records for most three pointers in a half and biggest halftime lead by a visiting team (which was also the third biggest halftime lead by any NBA Finals team). Four Spurs scored at least 13 first half points: Victor Wembanyama (16), Dylan Harper (15), Devin Vassell (15), and De'Aaron Fox (13). Brunson led the Knicks with 19 points and Anunoby added 14 points, but the other three New York starters had just 14 points while seven New York reserves combined to score two points.
The second half tale was even more improbable than the Spurs' first half dominance, as the Knicks outscored the Spurs 58-30 while shooting 21-41 (.512) from the field and limiting the Spurs to 8-39 (.205 field goal shooting). The Spurs shot 3-17 (.176) from beyond the arc in perhaps the ultimate example of why volume three point shooting is a high variance style of play; although "stat gurus" praise high volume three point shooting as the paragon of supposedly efficient offensive play, the reality is that teams that rely too heavily on three point shooting make themselves susceptible to long scoring droughts, particularly in the playoffs against tough-minded defensive teams. Charles Barkley of ABC/ESPN called the Spurs' second half three point barrage some of the dumbest basketball that he has seen in the 40-plus years that he has been involved with the NBA. Barkley is prone to hyperbole, but considering what was at stake and the fact that the Spurs have a 7-4 player who is supposed to be the future of the league, it is not extreme to suggest that the Spurs should have at least considered the option of slowing down, feeding the ball to Wembanyama in the paint (or at least inside the three point arc), and forcing the Knicks to guard him possession after possession. It cannot be emphasized enough that when the Spurs built their huge first half lead they outscored the Knicks in the paint 24-18, which indicates that the Spurs attacked the paint and then created rhythm three point shots by collapsing the defense. This is in marked contrast to the second half, when the Knicks outscored the Spurs in the paint 16-4.
This game provides a great example of why teams should not get frustrated by officiating or stop playing hard even when everything seems to be falling apart. Towns, who is often prone to collect fouls at an alarming rate, had two fouls in the first 1:02 of the game, resulting in him missing most of the first quarter. His second foul was initially whistled against Wembanyama, but then after a coach's challenge it was determined that Towns had committed an offensive foul on his drive to the hoop by hooking Wembanyama. The Spurs were already up 5-2 when Towns was replaced by Mitchell Robinson, and then the Spurs went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-2 lead. The Spurs were up by as much as 21 points in the first quarter, and were on top 41-22 entering the second quarter.
New York coach Mike Brown shuffled 12 players into the game in the first half as the Knicks dealt with foul trouble and struggled to find a five man unit that could be effective at either end of the court, but the Spurs still won the second quarter, 35-27.
It was not immediately apparent in the third quarter how drastically this game would shift. Nearly four minutes into the quarter, the Spurs were still up 81-59. The Spurs' lead fluctuated between 16 and 20 points for most of the third quarter before Brunson's feed to Robinson for a dunk cut the margin to 87-72 at the 2:43 mark. Vassell answered with a three pointer to nudge the lead back up to 18, but Anunoby closed the third quarter scoring with a trey to trim the deficit to 90-75 entering the final stanza. Coming back from 29 points down in the NBA Finals sounds impossible, but erasing a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter is quite doable, particularly considering that the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first game of the second round after trailing by 22 points with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Spurs nearly pulled off a collective "Harden" (referring to when a player--usually Harden--has more turnovers than field goals made), shooting 4-19 (.211) from the field while committing four turnovers. The Spurs still led 104-97 with 3:31 to go after Wembanyama made a jump shot, but the Knicks went on an 8-0 run in the next 2:09 to take their first lead of the game on a Brunson floater. Castle's two free throws put the Spurs up 106-105 with 30.3 seconds remaining, and it still seemed possible that the Knicks' huge comeback would be for naught. Brunson missed a floater in the lane with 16.1 seconds remaining, and Fox pushed the ball up the court after snaring the rebound. Fox could have held on to the ball to run the clock down and force the Knicks to foul him, but instead he attempted a layup with 11.1 seconds remaining. He later explained that his idea was to put the Spurs up by three points so that the Knicks would need a three pointer just to tie the game. Anunoby's chase down block gave the Knicks one last chance. Alvarado advanced the ball past midcourt before the Knicks called timeout. After the timeout, Anunoby inbounded the ball to Brunson and cut hard to the hoop. Brunson's three point shot looked good but was just off, and then Anunoby made the tip-in that will be replayed for decades (particularly if the Knicks win the championship). The Spurs called time out to advance the ball but were not even able to get off a shot in the final 1.2 seconds.
After steamrolling the Knicks 41-22 in the first quarter, the Spurs got trampled 32-16 in the fourth quarter. The NBA is often a first quarter league--a point that I have repeatedly made, and that ABC/ESPN play by play announcer Mike Breen mentioned early in the third quarter--but in this game the fourth quarter proved to be decisive.
Casual fans may not understand how long an NBA game is, or how long a playoff series is. This comeback was unprecedented, but in general a 48 minute game provides plenty of time for a comeback, and an NBA best out of seven series is far different from a 40 minute NCAA tournament game in which the better team can go cold for five or 10 minutes and be eliminated by an inferior team. In the 2026 NBA Finals, the Spurs have had big runs, often seemed to have the much-talked about "momentum," and enjoyed a lead in the final two minutes of all four games, but now they trail 3-1 and face a daunting task to defeat a resilient Knicks team that never loses faith and never quits. The Spurs have the most talented player in the series, but they have not figured out how to consistently exploit Wembanyama's height, reach, agility, and shooting touch; meanwhile, in game four the Knicks did a masterful job of utilizing matchups and switches to drag Wembanyama out of the paint on defense to clear driving lanes for scores and for kick out passes for open three pointers.
Labels: Dylan Harper, Jalen Brunson, Jose Alvarado, Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks, OG Anunoby, San Antonio Spurs, Stephon Castle, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 3:22 AM
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