The San Antonio Spurs had the New York Knicks dead to rights with a 29 point lead, but failed to close the show and have fallen into a 3-1 hole in the Finals. This is now the biggest comeback in Finals history, surpassing the Boston Celtics’ 24-point comeback against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008. The offense loosing its force doomed them and they suffered one of the worst fourth-quarter collapses in Finals history. The series shifts back to San Antonio and they will attempt to do what only the Cleveland Cavaliers did in 2016.
Part of the problem was the team got satisfied with their work while the Knicks remained desperate and they were too late to prevent a tsunami when trying to flip the switch. Victor Wembanyama (24 points on 36 percent shooting) went berserk in the first quarter, but laid a stack of bricks the rest of the game, which included missing a pair of big freebies with fewer than two minutes left. The rest of the team folded in key moments as well.