Fans inside Madison Square Garden stayed long after the final buzzer, still processing what they had just witnessed — the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
OG Anunoby delivered a defining moment for both New York and the league, tipping in a missed shot by Jalen Brunson to secure the Knicks’ 107-106 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The win brought New York within reach of its first NBA championship since 1973, erasing a 29-point deficit to do it.
Coach Brown had challenged Anunoby at halftime to attack the offensive glass more aggressively. Late in the game, Anunoby rose above Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell for the decisive tip-in that sealed the comeback.
Anunoby had inbounded the ball to Brunson, who launched a deep three with 4.3 seconds remaining. By the 2.1-second mark, Anunoby’s fingertips made contact with the ball that would write his name into Knicks history.
“You have to have a little luck in life,” Brown said. “You’ve got to have a little luck in sports. But you can also make your luck too. So you’ve got to have some natural luck and some luck where you’re going to make your own luck, and that was probably the biggest message.”
Before that moment, Anunoby had chased down Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox to block a layup attempt with 11.7 seconds left. Fox could have held the ball to draw a foul while San Antonio led by one, but the play gave New York another chance.
Fox’s late mistakes helped keep the door open for New York’s rally. Anunoby, who has never been selected to an All-Star team, strengthened his case for Finals MVP with a steady showing across four games.
“We know it’s a game of runs,” Anunoby said. “We’re a resilient group. We’ve been through a lot. We’ve come back plenty of times when we’re behind. Just staying with it, weathering the storm, not being too down or angry or frustrated. Just staying with it, cut down to 18, cut it down to six, push it through. It’s a 48-minute game, just play ’til the end.”
The stunning reversal surpassed the Boston Celtics’ 2008 Finals comeback, when they overcame a 24-point deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers. Both comebacks gave the winning teams a 3-1 series lead; the Knicks now hold that same position with a chance to capture a long-awaited title in roughly 72 hours.
Jose Alvarado emerged as an under-the-radar contributor. Brown inserted him late to move Brunson off the ball, and Alvarado scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, helping set the stage for Anunoby and Brunson’s finish.
“It’s unbelievable,” Brown said. “You know, the tip, how he had to control it and tip it in, and then like I said, you know, that has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball.”
The Knicks have shown a pattern of late playoff surges, never conceding a game. The Spurs, who had shot 60% through the first half, managed only 20% after halftime. Some fans booed during the break as New York trailed by 27 points.
Brown gave his team time to reflect rather than running extensive film at halftime. The players faced the possibility that their two road wins in San Antonio might be undone, and pressure weighed heavily in the locker room.
“Really wasn’t that much to be said at that point,” Brunson said. “It was really just we need to chip away. We need to hit singles, get on base and make plays from there.”
New York’s difficult first half included a sharp focus on Victor Wembanyama after his shove of Brunson in Game 3. Karl-Anthony Towns encountered early foul trouble, while Mitchell Robinson received a flagrant foul 1 for striking Wembanyama in the face.
By the start of the third quarter, momentum had shifted. The Knicks’ rally evoked memories of their Game 1 comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, when they erased a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to prevail in overtime.
“The game is not over at halftime, you know, and you just want to continue to chip,” Josh Hart said. “You don’t look at when you’re down 29, we’ve got to whip this game. You look at it when you’re down 29 of OK, let’s get it to 20. There’s three minutes left in the third quarter. We’re down 18, you’re thinking, let’s get it to 10.”
Hart added that the fourth quarter is winning time, referencing the usual leadership of Brunson. This time, multiple Knicks contributed across the finish line, leaving Brown nearly speechless.
“Coming from 29 down or 27 down, whatever it is, it gives you the confidence to know that, OK, hey, we are never out of a game,” Brown said. “And if we’re down again, which you hope you don’t get down that much, let’s just keep fighting. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing. But maybe try to do a little better. Make an adjustment here. Make an adjustment there and see what happens.”