Knicks one win away from NBA title after record comeback against Spurs

The New York Knicks made a record comeback from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

OG Anunoby tipped in the miss of Jalen Brunson’s long 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds remaining to complete the rally, giving the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and three chances to win the title.

It looked impossible early, when the Spurs rolled to a 27-point halftime lead. But Brunson helped bring the Knicks back with 36 points, and Anunoby finished with 33, swooping in as Brunson’s shot bounced softly off the front of the rim and stretching high with his right hand to tap it in.

“I told OG as big, as strong, as athletic as he is, he’s got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.

“I don’t know if there was a play bigger than any other play in the history of Knicks basketball.”

No team had come from more than 24 points down in a finals game, when the Boston Celtics did it against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008, since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters in 1997. The Spurs led 81-52 in the third quarter.

The only bigger comeback on record in any playoff game was 31 points by the Los Angeles Clippers against the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of a first-round series in 2019.

The Knicks had their 13-game winning streak snapped in Game 3 and seemed headed for a second straight defeat throughout the first half, when Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs opened the biggest halftime lead by a visiting team in the finals.