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 moving the New York 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 the co-author of the comeback, had a 3-pointer clang off the front of the rim, but Anunoby soared over everyone to guide the miss and tip it in.
The Spurs had one more chance, but Stephon Castle fumbled the inbounds pass and pandemonium at Madison Square Garden followed. The Knicks now lead the series 3-1, becoming the first home team to win in the 2026 finals.
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. ET at Frost Bank Center.
Anunoby contributed 33 points on the strength of seven 3s. Karl-Anthony Towns fought through foul trouble all night to contribute 13 points and 10 boards. Brunson added seven assists for the game and scored nine points in the fourth quarter, which began with the Knicks trailing by 15. Reserve guard Jose Alvarado played a huge role in the comeback, scoring eight points off the bench in the fourth quarter.
Given the stakes, this is the most stunning defeat of the young career of rising French superstar Victor Wembanyama. He led the Spurs with 24 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie Dylan Harper was excellent with 21 points off the San Antonio bench. However, this loss will sting for a long time.
San Antonio led by as many as 21 in the first quarter and was ahead 41-22 after one, the largest lead by a road team at the end of the first quarter of an NBA Finals game in league history. By halftime, the Spurs had connected on an NBA Finals-record 14 3-pointers 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 the game with a dominant third quarter, trimming a 29-point deficit to 90-75 entering the fourth quarter. San Antonio cooled off considerably (2 of 12 on 3s) and committed five turnovers in scoring just 14 points.
This was the Knicks’ second amazing comeback of the playoffs; they also rallied from 22 down with 8 minutes remaining in Game 1 of the conference finals to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime.
With 30 seconds left, Castle’s two free throws put the Spurs up by a point. Brunson missed a short jumper, and De’Aaron Fox grabbed a long rebound with a chance to put his team up by 3 or more, but his layup was blocked by (who else?) Anunoby. 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?) in a single bound.
Actually, Anunoby was the passer on the play to Brunson. No one boxed Anunoby out as he slipped past Wembanyama and finished the play.
A New York legend was born. Here are our takeaways from Game 4:
For the Spurs, it all falls apart
It took only one minute for the floor to tilt heavily in Victor Wembanyama’s favor. Karl-Anthony Towns quickly picked up two fouls, bringing in Mitchell Robinson and giving Wembanyama the big break he needed.
Wembanyama kept digging deeper and deeper into Robinson, talking trash and saying 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 and appearing to say, “I’m in your head, boy!”
Robinson checked out of the game, and Wembanyama asserted his dominance.
However, then everything fell apart as the offense imploded in the second half. Entering halftime, it looked as if the Spurs had a newfound poise to even the series, but they ultimately surrendered the greatest comeback ever. It was a complete abandonment of their offensive principles, as the Spurs were 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 did De’Aaron Fox attempt a layup instead of running down the clock with barely 10 seconds remaining?
This is a colossal failure that puts the Spurs in a deficit they probably can’t climb out of. — Jared Weiss, Spurs writer
Historic win for New York
Minutes after the final buzzer, it did not seem as if a soul had exited Madison Square Garden. The 20,000 Knicks fans understood what they had just witnessed. This was the greatest win for the franchise in at least 53 years, the last time it won a title. Without a doubt, it was also the most dramatic: down 29 points, lifeless as the Spurs hit more than 60 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 ended in the greatest way the franchise has experienced in more than half a century — because this is the greatest Knicks team during that span. — Fred Katz, NBA writer
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 because of the play of Brunson and Anunoby.
Brunson scored nine of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, including some huge jump shots before Anunoby’s block on Fox and tip-in layup 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 season, and now the team is one win away from standing there all alone.
Game 4 was Brunson’s best of these finals. He finished the game shooting 12 of 25 with seven assists and just three turnovers. He had shot over 40 percent only once in the first three games. His clutch shotmaking and decision-making were key to New York pulling 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 might be the greatest Knick of all time. — James L. Edwards III, Knicks writer
An improbable comeback
People don’t storm the court at NBA games. However, when the Knicks finished their incredible, improbable and absolutely amazing 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 as he hugged him. 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 boos could be heard, this was as memorable a win — and a scene — as they’ve ever seen.
Meanwhile, the Spurs had to rush off the court to avoid getting 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 the Spurs can not be calculated. — Sam Amick, senior NBA writer
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 only the second-most unbelievable comeback in this Knicks postseason?
Let’s start here: Give credit to Mike Brown for inserting Alvarado for a struggling Mikal Bridges, adding another ballhandler to relieve some of the stress from Brunson. And give him credit for switching Anunoby onto 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 plays in the final 10 seconds, first by blocking a 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 for a long time on the mistakes that cost it a 29-point lead, 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.
However, we’ve seen this movie many times from the Knicks over the last two rounds. That’s why they’re now one win from the NBA championship. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer