The New York Knicks are one win away from their first NBA championship in more than half a century after completing the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Down by as many as 29 points, the Knicks rallied to take a 3-1 series lead, leaving them three opportunities to claim a title they have not won since 1973.
The comeback appeared almost unthinkable in the first half, with the Spurs — a young, fast-rising team from San Antonio, Texas — building a 27-point halftime lead, the largest ever by a visiting team in an NBA Finals game. San Antonio's French star Victor Wembanyama led the charge alongside Dylan Harper, De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell, and the Spurs were lethal from three-point range, converting 11 of their first 16 attempts. But they went cold in the second half, managing just 3 of 17 from beyond the arc as the Knicks outscored them 58-30 over the final two quarters. Jalen Brunson finished with 36 points for New York, while OG Anunoby added 33. The decisive moment came with 1.2 seconds remaining: Brunson's long three-point attempt fell short, but Anunoby rose to tip it in, sealing the improbable victory.
No team had previously overcome a deficit of more than 24 points in an NBA Finals game since the league began tracking detailed quarter-by-quarter statistics in 1997 — a record set by the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008. Wednesday's effort surpasses it. Wembanyama, who finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot 9 of 25 from the field, missed two crucial free throws with under two minutes remaining while San Antonio led by one — moments that proved fatal for the Spurs. "We clearly weren't the most hungry in the second half," Wembanyama admitted. Knicks coach Mike Brown called Anunoby's tip-in potentially "the biggest play in the history of Knicks basketball."
Inside a delirious Madison Square Garden — where celebrities including Taylor Swift and comedian Jimmy Fallon were among the crowd — fans broke into a spontaneous sing-along of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as the final seconds ticked away. The Knicks, who had already shown their resilience by erasing a 22-point deficit against the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the playoffs, have now built a reputation for refusing to concede. Game 5 takes place Saturday night in San Antonio, where the Spurs will attempt to keep their championship hopes alive and force the series back to New York.
The result matters beyond basketball: New York City has not celebrated an NBA title since the Knicks' second championship 53 years ago, and the prospect of a historic drought ending has gripped the city. For the Spurs — a franchise that won five titles between 1999 and 2014 but has been rebuilding around the young Wembanyama — the collapse will sting, though they still have a chance to regroup on home court.