Knicks erase 29-point deficit to stun Spurs, move within one win of first title since 1973
· Yahoo Sports
The night started with a guarantee, got swallowed by 3-pointers, turned sour at the whistle and somehow ended with Madison Square Garden shaking beneath a celebration nobody saw coming.
Somehow, someway, the Knicks climbed out of a 29-point hole to stun the San Antonio Spurs, 107-106, Wednesday night at the Garden, and are now one win from capturing their first championship since 1973 as the NBA Finals shift back to Frost Bank Center for Saturday’s Game 5.
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Jalen Brunson led the rally, finishing with a game-high 36 points while OG Anunoby added 33.
There is no easy way to describe a game like this.
The Spurs shot the crowd into silence. The Knicks spent the first half fighting the officials, themselves and a San Antonio team that couldn’t miss. Then the Knicks kept digging until the building, dead at halftime, came roaring back to life.
Hours before tipoff, Knicks owner James Dolan told WFAN, “I expect to win tonight, being as [when] I make predictions here, they come true. We’ll win tonight and we’ll win the finals.”
For most of the night, it looked like a line destined to age terribly.
The crowd arrived with more energy than it had for Game 3. Fans chanted “Refs you suck” early, and they found reasons to keep doing it.
Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his first foul 18 seconds into the game while contesting De’Aaron Fox at the rim. On the other end, Towns attacked Victor Wembanyama and appeared to draw contact, only for San Antonio to challenge the call. After review, officials ruled Towns hooked Wembanyama.
Instead of a foul on Wembanyama, Towns was charged with his second foul less than a minute into the game.
Mitchell Robinson checked in. The Knicks’ plan to run offense through Towns was compromised almost immediately.
The Spurs pounced. They jumped ahead 12-2, answered Josh Hart’s transition three-point play with an 8-0 run and never stopped making shots. San Antonio scored 41 first-quarter points, shot 65.2% from the field and committed zero turnovers. The Knicks shot 29.4% and turned four giveaways into eight Spurs points.
By the end of the quarter, Robinson had been assessed a Flagrant 1 for a forearm to Wembanyama’s neck, Wembanyama had converted two free throws and the Spurs led 41-22.
Things somehow got worse.
Towns picked up his third foul with 7:31 left in the second quarter and San Antonio leading by 25. The Spurs buried 14 3-pointers before halftime, the most ever in a Finals first half, and took a 76-49 lead into the break.
The Garden was stunned. Even Wu-Tang Clan’s halftime performance couldn’t wake it up. Then the Knicks found a pulse.
Wembanyama was assessed a Flagrant 1 with 9:27 left in the third quarter after catching Towns with an elbow to the jaw. The call gave the Knicks life and added another layer to a series already filled with physical play and officiating debates.
The comeback truly began with 6:45 left in the third.
Anunoby buried a 3-pointer off a Towns assist to cut the deficit to 19. Hart followed with a 3 of his own. For the first time since the opening minutes, the Garden sounded like itself again.
The Spurs’ body language changed.
Another Anunoby 3 cut the deficit to 15 late in the quarter. The Knicks outscored San Antonio 26-14 in the third and kept coming in the fourth.
Brunson started the final period, a rarity that said everything about the moment.
The lead shrank to 12. Then nine. Then four.
With 4:32 left, Towns powered through traffic and finished at the rim to make it 99-95.
The Garden believed again. Then the impossible happened.
Brunson floated in a runner with 1:22 remaining to give the Knicks their first lead of the night. The building erupted. A team that had trailed by 29 had somehow climbed all the way back.
The Spurs weren’t finished.
The Knicks appeared to get the stop it needed with 38.8 seconds left but failed to secure the rebound. Stephon Castle got to the free-throw line and calmly made both shots, putting San Antonio back in front, 106-105 with 30.3 seconds remaining.
Timeout Knicks.
After erasing 29 points, after reviving the Garden, after taking their first lead with just over a minute remaining, the Knicks still needed one more play.
They got it.
Brunson’s final shot missed, but Anunoby flew in from the weak side and tipped the ball through the basket with 5.7 seconds remaining, giving the Knicks a 107-106 lead.
One last defensive stand followed. Then came the celebration.
For most of the night, the officiating dominated conversations. For much of the first half, San Antonio’s shooting dominated the game.
Neither decided it. The Knicks did.
Now they head back to San Antonio one win away from ending a 53-year wait. And after climbing out of a 29-point hole on the NBA Finals stage, they have every reason to believe anything is possible.