The New York Knicks completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history. After trailing 81-52 early in the third quarter, they outscored the San Antonio Spurs 55-25 the rest of the way to win 107-106. Here are my biggest takeaways.
It’s a well-known concept that experience matters, but this series epitomizes it. The Spurs are down 3-1 in this series despite leading for most of the series. San Antonio has led for 133:12 game minutes, while New York has only done it for 51:59.
That tells me the Spurs are the team executing down the stretch at a much higher level. In Game Four, the Knicks outscored the Spurs 32-16 in the fourth quarter. In Game One, the fourth quarter score was 29-19 in favor of New York.
San Antonio won the fourth quarter 29-21 in Game Two, but that was the game where Victor Wembanyama made the blunder of throwing the ball off Stephon Castle’s back, tied at 104 with less than 30 seconds to go. The one game in which the Spurs played sound basketball in the final moments was Game Three, and they won the game.
This last game was a brutal one for Wemby and Company. Despite blowing the 29-point lead, Castle sank two clutch free throws to make it 106-105 with 30.3 seconds left. On the next possession, Jalen Brunson missed a contested floater that bounced off the backboard and into De’Aaron Fox’s hands on the other side.
This was the biggest moment of the game. All Fox had to do was hold the ball and make two free throws after being fouled. Instead, he got a bit greedy and went for the layup, and OG Anunoby blocked. New York then had possession with Brunson taking a deep three to take the lead, but he missed. Out of nowhere, Anunoby came through to tip the ball in, surrounding my three Spurs, and won them the game.
Those Fox plays, and Anunoby’s tip-in, are the difference between a 2-2 and a 3-1 series. A razor-thin margin for error.
This particular Game Five might be the most difficult one to predict in terms of the flow of the game. It is entirely possible that it’s a close game, or a Spurs blowout, or a Knicks blowout.
The case for the San Antonio blowout is simple. They are the more desperate team and are back at home. When they were down 3-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they went back home and won 118-91 in Game Six. The crowd can galvanize the team, and New York could have a small let-down game after an emotional win.
The case for the Knicks blowout is that they have been simply transcendent in close-out games this postseason. They have won the series-clinching game by an average of 39.3 points per game. It’s entirely possible that this young Spurs team comes out in Game Five in a defeated manner.
The case for the close game is that this series continues its trend. Everyone thought that the San Antonio was done after Game Two blunder, but they ended up playing two great games in New York. It’s possible that both these teams are mentally tough, and the only thing that separates them is the end-of-game execution.
It will be interesting to see how Game Five begins.
With all that said, how incredible would it be if San Antonio becomes the second-ever team to come back down 3-1? On June 19, 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James became the first ever team to complete a 3-1 comeback.
Game Seven this year is on June 19, 2026. The 10-year anniversary repeat would be great for the sport. In an earlier article, I spoke about Wemby’s path being similar to that of 2007 James. He could rewrite it so that it mirrors 2016 James instead.
It’s a cool concept to think about, but it’s hard to see this dominant Knicks team lose three in a row. They have now won 14 of 15 games and five of seven against San Antonio.
Can the Spurs flip the script?
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