The greatest comeback in NBA Finals history didn’t hinge on a blown boxout, a straight-line runway for OG Anunoby to tip in Jalen Brunson’s missed game-winner. It didn’t come down solely to De’Aaron Fox’s decision to try and race to the rim instead of pulling the ball back out to burn clock and wait for a foul. And it didn’t rest on Karl-Anthony Towns getting a paw up to deflect a potentially game-winning pass on the final play.
All those moments were indispensable for the New York Knicks as they came back from 29 points down to put themselves one win away from a championship. But those moments weren’t solitary — comebacks don’t work that way. They are storms created by multiple fronts colliding all at once.
It’s a mixture of momentum slowly turning like a cruise ship making a U-turn. It’s confidence that transfers from one side of the ball to the other. It’s a buzz in the building, belief transforming from foolishness to reality.
With the power of hindsight (and game film), we can look back on the key moments that sparked this rally, the moments the San Antonio Spurs could have extinguished it and the moments when it became clear that the Knicks’ climb was actually possible.
The blender
SAS leads 76-49 11:19, third quarter
The second Knicks possession of the third quarter showed some cracks in the Spurs’ defense and helped provide them with a blueprint for how they’d come back to win. Following a miss on an open 3 by the Spurs (a trend that would continue throughout the half), the Knicks get into a set with a high Jalen Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll. As the Spurs show a double-team, Brunson reverses and attacks Victor Wembanyama, who is out of position. Brunson gets into the paint, draws help from the corner and makes the easy pass to a wide open Josh Hart who swings it to Anunoby for an easy 3-pointer against Wembanyama’s late closeout.
This was a terrific offensive process from the Knicks, with Brunson finding an advantage off the dribble and forcing the Spurs into a total defensive scramble. It was the kind of play that laid the groundwork for how the Knicks would attack, it helped keep Anunoby in rhythm and gave them a psychological boost to strike first in the second half (also, scoring by attacking Wembanyama off the dribble and later by hitting a shot over his closeout).
The foul
SAS leads 81-52, 9:27 third quarter
If we’re going to be as generous as possible, Wembanyama’s elbow to Karl-Anthony Towns early in the third was nothing more than an awkward moment. When you’re Wembanyama’s size, you’re going to elbow a lot of people in the face when even opposing centers’ faces are at elbow level. It’s just going to happen, and there was nothing close to malicious about this.
Except Wembanyama’s been malicious. His uncalled foul when he shoved Brunson in the back of his head during Game 3 ended up being one of the defining plays between Games 3 and 4. The league’s decision to not upgrade that play to a flagrant certainly fueled the crowd’s reaction to the first half officiating, which turned out to be a huge energy suck for the Knicks, who spent way too much time complaining and not enough time spraying defenders out to shooters.
This play and the ensuing Flagrant 1 felt like catharsis for both the fans and players, a big call going their way that allowed them to stop worrying about whistles and fully reinvest in the game.
The timing for the Spurs, also, was terrible. They’d just scored five straight on back-to-back made jumpers. After the flagrant, they’d make just two more field goals the rest of the third quarter.
The spot
SAS leads 81-68, 3:13 third quarter
It has felt like Brunson has played better in this series than he actually has, with the Spurs largely reducing him to an inefficient high-volume scorer who hasn’t been able to get comfortable. But watching live, it felt like Brunson’s shot early in the third, one minute after Wembanyama got called for the high elbow, was him in his comfort zone. To this point in the game, Brunson had made only one jump shot — a credit to the Spurs defensive pressure and physicality against one of the NBA’s midrange gods.
But in Game 4, it wasn’t just that he was missing his middies, he wasn’t even getting them. He got clean looks to start both the first and second quarters, but that was it — until this play.
The ball had started to fall for him before — he hit a 3 and miracle floater — but this was vintage Brunson. He worked to his right, bumped Dylan Harper (a remarkable show of strength in itself), created space with his sidestep and buried an 18-footer.
He looked like himself, a sight that had to have instilled confidence in his team and the crowd.
The fumbles
SAS leads 90-72, 1:15 in the third
As the Spurs built their lead Wednesday night, they were especially careful with the basketball. Valuing possessions on the road, generally, is a recipe for winning. In the playoffs, it’s basically a must. The Spurs had just two turnovers in the first half before the floor fell out from underneath them in the second half.
It’s a bit of a chicken-or-egg scenario. Did the turnovers happen first and allow the Knicks to come back? Or did the Knicks’ comeback put pressure on the Spurs and they wilted?
It sure seemed like the pressure got to them late in the third when Fox had back-to-back unforced turnovers that made it clear the moment was beginning to be a problem.
The Spurs had just hit a momentum shot — a Devin Vassell 3 — and gotten a stop, a chance to go back up 20 points late in the third. Instead, as they brought the ball across midcourt, Fox tried to split Stephon Castle and Wembanyama with a pass that looked like it was intended for the replay monitor. Anunoby banged a 3 on the next possession, and then, Fox dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds.
The crowd roared — the Knicks down just 15 heading into the fourth instead of 20, or possibly even more.
The lob
SAS leads 95-78, 8:55 fourth quarter
Of the criticisms aimed at Wembanyama this postseason, the lack of a go-to shot has been particularly compelling, especially to people old enough to remember Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holding the ball high above defenders and flicking his wrist. The sky-hook was unstoppable, and he was a master of a shot that would only miss if he didn’t execute.
The closest thing Wembanyama has in his bag, to date, is the lob. He’s got excellent hands, a catch radius that makes Randy Moss look like the Venus de Milo. And his agility, a skill he shares with Abdul-Jabbar, allows Wembanyama to contort in spaces to get open and finish above the rim (wayyyy above the rim).
The Spurs looked like they were about to execute a go-to play with Wembanyama cutting backdoor on Towns and getting to the block. The pass from Castle wasn’t perfect, but good enough. But Wembanyama wasn’t able to get his body squared to the basket, and he kind of awkwardly tried to flip the ball in with his left hand. He was unable to dunk it, instead sort of awkwardly flinging it over the rim. The Knicks got the rebound — and a boost from stopping something that’s usually unstoppable.
The switch
SAS leads 104-100, 2:23 fourth quarter
When you’re in the arena late in a close game, these are the moments that get everyone excited. Brunson, dribbling the ball, Wembanyama standing between him and the basket. The buzz that builds when the two best players go at each other is always special, but with Brunson 16 inches shorter than his defender, this was truly a David vs. Gaston (French Goliath?) situation.
The saying generally goes that great offense will always best great defense, but Wembanyama won the first part of the battle. He stayed in front of Brunson and forced the pass, but Hart quickly fed it back. And before Wembanyama could fully re-engage, Brunson delivered a lightning-quick launch over Wembanyama’s outstretched arm.
It was the biggest shot of the game…until the bigger one that ended it.
The winner
SAS leads 106-105, 0:06 fourth quarter
OK, so the comeback doesn’t totally happen without Anunoby’s game-winning tip. Brunson had actually missed two-straight shots before he tried to beat a double-team by shooting quickly from 31 feet.
But before Anunoby crashed the glass and tipped in the shot that will probably ensure he’ll get a table in New York City wherever and wherever he wants for life, he wanted the ball. Because the Spurs elected not to guard the inbounder, using Fox first on Towns and then to double Brunson, Anunoby was left uncovered.
After he inbounded the ball, Anunoby saw two Spurs defenders go to Brunson. Anunoby threw his arms in the air, calling for the return pass. There’s an alternate universe where the ball swings back to him and he gets his chance to be the hero with an open 3 (he was already 7 for 9). The pass didn’t come, Brunson trying for the winner.
Players all over the NBA, good ones too, would’ve quit on the play after that pass didn’t come. Instead, as soon as Brunson goes to release the ball, Anunoby puts his arms down and sprints for the rim. He splits Castle, who was boxing out Towns and Harper, who was watching the rim from the weakside.
It was Anunoby’s only offensive rebound of the game — a play he never quit on, even after it started with him being wide open.
