Knicks stage historic Game 4 comeback against Spurs, one win away from title

NEW YORK – OG Anunoby soared from — Where? Maybe the Empire State Building? — for the greatest putback in New York Knicks’ history, finishing off the biggest in-game comeback in NBA Finals history and and moving the Knicks to within one win of their first title since 1973.

Trailing by 29 early in the second half, New York clawed its way back to win Game 4 over the San Antonio Spurs, 107-106, on Anunoby’s putback of a Jalen Brunson miss with 1.2 seconds left.

Brunson, who scored 36 and otherwise was co-author of the comeback, had a 3-ball clang off the back of the rim, but Anunoby jumped over everyone to corral the miss and tip it in.

The Spurs had one more chance, but Stephon Castle fumbled the in-bounds pass, and pandemonium at Madison Square Garden followed. The Knicks can close out the finals and claim the franchise’s third title with a win Saturday in San Antonio.

Game 5 is at 8:30 p.m. at the Frost Bank Center.

Anunoby contributed 33 points on seven 3s. Karl-Anthony Towns fought through foul trouble all night to contribute 13 points and 10 boards. Brunson, meanwhile, added seven assists and scored nine points in the fourth quarter, which began with the Knicks trailing by 15.

Given the stakes, this stands as the most stunning defeat of rising French superstar Victor Wembanyama’s early career. He led the Spurs with 24 points and 13 rebounds and rookie Dylan Harper was excellent with 21 points off the San Antonio bench, but this loss is going to stay with them and their teammates for months, if not longer.

San Antonio led by as many as 21 in the first quarter and were ahead 41-22 after one for the largest lead by a road team at the end of the first quarter of a finals game in NBA history. By halftime the Spurs had connected on an NBA Finals record 14 3s for a half in 26 tries and led by 27 — the fourth largest halftime lead in finals history.

The Knicks edged their way back into it with a dominant third quarter, cutting a 29-point deficit down to 90-75 through three quarters. San Antonio cooled off considerably (2-of-12 on 3s) and committed five turnovers in scoring just 14 points.

This was the Knicks’ second great comeback of the playoffs; they also fought from 22 down with eight minutes left in Game 1 of the conference finals to beat Cleveland in overtime.

Castle’s two free throws put the Spurs up by a point with 30 seconds left. Brunson missed a short jumper and De’Aaron Fox grabbed a long rebound with a chance to put his team up by three or more, but he missed a two-footer. The Spurs fouled and set up the Knicks’ final possession, one in which Anunoby put on a red cape and leaped a tall building (Wemby?) with a single bound.

It all falls apart for the Spurs

It only took one minute for the floor to tilt heavily in Victor Wembanyama’s favor. Karl-Anthony Towns picked up two fouls immediately, bringing in Mitchell Robinson and giving Wembanyama the big break he needed. Wembanyama kept digging into Robinson deeper and deeper, talking trash and saying that he was getting in Robinson’s head. It culminated with Robinson hitting Wembanyama with a shoulder to the jaw and the Spurs star smiling ear-to-ear on the floor, clapping, appearing to say, “I’m in your head, boy!” Robinson checked out of the game and Wembanyama asserted his dominance.

But then everything fell apart as the Spurs offense imploded in the second half. Heading into halftime, it looked like the Spurs found a newfound level of poise to even the series, but they ended up giving up the greatest comeback ever. Just a complete abandonment of their offensive principles, buried by ice-cold shooting. Wembanyama kept settling for jumpers as the Spurs guards could no longer find easy ways to get into the paint. They couldn’t consistently stop Brunson, no matter how hard they tried. Why on earth would De’Aaron Fox take the layup instead of running the clock with under 10 seconds remaining? This was a colossal failure that puts the Spurs in a position they probably can’t climb out of. — Jared Weiss

Historic win for New York

Minutes after the final buzzer sounded, and it does not seem like a soul has exited Madison Square Garden. The 20,000 Knicks fans understand what they just witnessed. This was the greatest win for the franchise in at least 53 years, since the last time they won a title. And without a doubt, it was their most dramatic: Down 29 points, lifeless as the Spurs hit 60-something percent of their shots.

No one should have stood a chance. But this is what the Knicks do. It’s what they did when they were down 22 points to the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s what they did when they trailed by double digits in the first two games of the finals. This team, somehow, pulls off the impossible, the miraculous. It’s only fitting that Game 4 would end in the greatest way the franchise has experienced in more than half a century — because this is the greatest Knicks team during that timespan. — Fred Katz

Greatest Knick of all time?

Jalen Brunson is one more win away from becoming, arguably, the greatest Knick of all-time — or, at the very least, the most important.

New York became the first team in NBA Finals history to win a game after trailing by 22-plus-points at halftime, and it was largely due to the play of Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby.

Brunson scored nine of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, including some huge jump shots before Anunoby’s tip-in layup and block on Fox sealed the deal for New York.

The Knicks went from a laughingstock franchise to one of the league’s elite under Brunson’s watch. The All-NBA guard has inched New York closer and closer to the mountaintop each year, and now the team is one win away from standing up there all alone.

Game 4 was Brunson’s best these finals. He finished the game with 12-of-25 shooting, seven assists and just three turnovers. Brunson had only shot over 40 percent one time in the first three games. His clutch shot-making and decision-making was key to New York being able to pull out the win.

If the Knicks end this series Saturday in San Antonio, given all that New York has been through since winning its last title 53 years ago, Brunson may be the greatest Knick of all-time. — James L. Edwards III

An improbable comeback

People don’t storm the court at NBA games. It just doesn’t happen.

But when the Knicks finished their incredible, improbable and absolutely insane comeback, with the Spurs’ final attempt falling flat and the bedlam beginning, that’s precisely what happened. Knicks legend John Starks was losing his mind. Taylor Swift and her blue-shirted friends were dancing with sheer bliss. Ben Stiller was filming Tracy Morgan’s reaction while hugging him at the same time. Larry David looked pretty happy, too. And that was just the celebrities. For the Knicks fans who have waited all this time for another title, and who were so down on the home team at halftime that you could actually hear boos in the building, this was as memorable a win — and a scene — as they’ve ever seen.

The Spurs, meanwhile, had to rush off the court so as to not get caught up in all the craziness. Wembanyama appeared to make it through the tunnel unscathed — if only physically. The emotional toll of this loss on him and his Spurs can simply not be calculated. — Sam Amick

Anunoby makes pivotal plays to seal stunning win

How do you describe the most unreal comeback in NBA Finals history … when it’s still possibly on the SECOND-most unbelievable comeback in this Knicks postseason?

Let’s start here: Give credit to Mike Brown for inserting Jose Alvarado for a struggling Mikal Bridges, adding another ballhandler to relieve some of the stress from Jalen Brunson. And give him credit for switching OG Anunoby onto De’Aaron Fox, gumming up San Antonio’s offense in the fourth quarter — especially when the Spurs never adjusted by going away from the matchup.

None of that matters, however, if Anunoby doesn’t make two absolutely incredible players in the final 10 seconds, first by blocking a De’Aaron Fox breakaway layup attempt, and then by reaching into the rafters for an unbelievable, instantly iconic tip-in to provide the winning points.

San Antonio will ruminate on the mistakes that cost them a 29-point lead for a long time, including a pass out of bounds when Stephon Castle wasn’t looking for the ball and Fox’s decision to shoot the layup rather than wait for the Knicks to foul him. But we’ve also seen this movie so many times from the Knicks the last two rounds, and that’s why they’re now one win from the NBA championship. — John Hollinger