Jalen Brunson on Knicks’s miracle comeback: “We kept chipping away”
Wembanyama led the Spurs with 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot 9-for-25 from the field. Despite a red-hot start, San Antonio scored just 30 points in the second half after being up 76-49 at the break – the largest blown half-time lead in NBA play-off history.
Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points while Anunoby had a stellar all-around effort with 33 points and a crucial block on De’Aaron Fox that gave New York the game-winning possession.
No team had come back from more than 24 points in the Finals (the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008), and the Spurs allowed it to happen with some complacency and ill-advised decisions when the chips were down.
The Knicks were just as stunned as the Spurs were after miraculously pulling out victory and zoning in on their third championship.
“You’re allowed to think the worst possible scenario but you got to go out there and do something about it,” Brunson said.
“Just me, just having my team-mates back, just fighting every possession, just figuring out what we had to do – but not really leaving it.
“We kept chipping away, when it got down to 15 in the fourth, just kinda looking pops and him looking at me and said, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ And I was like, alright.”