Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The New York Knicks erased a 29-point deficit in Game 4 of the NBA Finals to stun the San Antonio Spurs.
- The win puts the Knicks within one victory of capturing their first title in 53 years after an 11-game playoff winning streak.
- Can the young Spurs can rebound from the historic collapse or if the Knicks' collective effort will lead them to an unprecedented championship?
If you went to bed early on Wednesday night, you missed one of the most improbable comebacks in sports history. The New York Knicks were dead and buried in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, trailing by 29 points in the second quarter and by 27 at the half in a game that should have seen the San Antonio Spurs level the series at two games a piece.
The Spurs had a 99.6 percent win probability just minutes into the second half, when they built an 81-52 lead, but what happened after is the basketball equivalent of the Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI. In a fashion that was also eerily similar to their comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks absolutely stole a game they had no business winning.
It looked as if the pressure was starting to crack the Knicks, who entered the series with title-or-bust expectations from owner James Dolan. New York did get plenty of help from the Spurs, who got increasingly perimeter happy in the second half, and took advantage of mistakes from a youthful San Antonio group to move within 48 minutes of history.
The Knicks are a win away from one of the most improbable title runs in NBA history
It is still hard to believe that these Knicks were once down 2-1 in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks with C.J. McCollum on pace to become the next New York postseason villain. Mike Brown went to work in the middle of that series and his adjustments helped unlock the Knicks in time to seize the Eastern Conference, setting up a steamroll of momentum heading into the Finals.
The unique part of this run is that the Finals, in particular, have not seen the Knicks carried by Jalen Brunson. The 2025 Clutch Player of the Year has had a difficult time getting going in the Finals thanks to the physicality of the perimeter defenders the Spurs have thrown at him, particularly Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell, and the Knicks were losing his minutes significantly entering Game 4.
The uniqueness of this Knicks' team comes from its complimentary pieces, as players like Karl-Anthony Towns, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart have stepped up to play key roles. A potentially fitting comparison could be with the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, who functioned much better as a collective team than the sum of their individual parts.
The Spurs were widely considered the favorite entering this series, which seemed to be a sign of complete disrespect for the run the Knicks were on prior to the Finals. Winning 11 straight postseason games isn't easy, and doing so by a margin of over 250 points is downright absurd.
Brunson was notably stoic in his postgame comments, noting that the job wasn't done and the Knicks simply won one basketball game. It remains to be seen if the young Spurs can recover from taking that kind of gut punch, the latest in a series where they blew three double digit leads to lose, but there isn't a team more deserving of ending a 53-year title drought right now than these Knicks.
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