Knicks Just Came Back From 29 Down to Beat the Spurs in Game 4 — Largest Comeback in NBA Finals History
Madison Square Garden just witnessed something that has never happened in the NBA Finals before.
The New York Knicks were down 29 points to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4. Down 81-52 in the third quarter. The Spurs were hitting everything. Devin Vassell was 4-of-4 from three. The road team had won every game of the series and looked like it was about to do it again. Most of the building was already heading to the exits.
Then the Knicks did the impossible.
Final score: Knicks 107, Spurs 106. Knicks lead the series 3-1. They’re one win away from their first championship since 1973.
OG Anunoby tipped in a Jalen Brunson miss with 1.2 seconds left to win it. No team in NBA Finals history had ever come back from more than 24 points down — that was Boston against the Lakers in 2008. The Knicks just topped that by 5 since play-by-play tracking started in 1997.
How the comeback happened
The Spurs were on fire in the first half. 14 threes — a Finals record for a half. They shot 60% from the field and 54% from three. They led 76-49 at the break, the third-largest halftime lead in Finals history. Devin Vassell was perfect from three. Dylan Harper and De’Aaron Fox each had three threes. Wemby was working the middle. It looked over.
Then San Antonio’s offense disappeared.
The Spurs scored 14 points in the third quarter. 16 in the fourth. After being up 81-52 in the third, they got outscored 58-29 over the final 18 minutes of the game. The Knicks defense suddenly looked like the team that won 13 straight playoff games. Anunoby hit threes. Brunson cooked. The crowd that was filing out came back screaming.
Brunson finished with 36 points on 12-of-25 shooting, 9-of-11 from the line. Anunoby went off for 33 with 7 threes — his 7th three cut the lead to 4 late in the fourth and basically broke the building.
The Knicks shot 47% from three for the game. The Spurs shot 40%. But when it mattered, in the fourth quarter, the Spurs went cold and the Knicks didn’t miss.
The tip-in
Down 106-105 with seconds left. Brunson came off a screen, drove right, pulled up for a long three over Wemby. The shot was way off. Anunoby was already crashing the glass. He went up over everybody and tipped it in with 1.2 seconds on the clock.
Wemby got one last look at the buzzer. It didn’t fall.
107-106 Knicks.
What this means
The Knicks are now up 3-1 in the Finals with three chances to win the title. Game 5 is in San Antonio on Friday. If they lose that one, they come back to MSG for Game 6. They’ve already won twice at the Frost Bank Center in this series. They’re going to be the favorites to close it out.
For the Spurs, this is a gut punch that’s hard to describe. They were 12 minutes from tying the series 2-2 and going home with all the momentum. Wembanyama had 24 and 13. He played 43 minutes. He blocked 3 shots. He did everything you could ask. It still wasn’t enough because the offense around him went cold and the Knicks wouldn’t go away.
Only one team in NBA Finals history has ever come back from 3-1 down — the 2016 Cavs against the Warriors. That’s it. One time, ever. The Spurs would have to win three straight, including two at MSG, to match that. Anything’s possible after what we just watched, but the math is brutal.
One more thing
The Knicks have now had seven double-digit comebacks in the second half over the past two postseasons. By far the most in the NBA. This team does not quit. They proved it against Cleveland in the ECF when they came back from 22 down in Game 1 in overtime. They proved it tonight by doing the impossible.
Game 5 Friday in San Antonio. The Knicks can clinch on the road.
