By William Armstead
The New York Knicks were down 81-52 to the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter and stormed all the way back to win 107-106. The 29-point comeback was the largest in NBA Finals history.
The Knicks were able to close the deficit by holding the Spurs to 4-for-20 shooting in the third quarter, using a 13-0 run to cut their lead in half to start the fourth quarter.
The Knicks are no strangers to playoff comebacks. They erased a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference finals series.
For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson scored 36 points and OG Anunoby scored 33 on a spectacular 10-15 from the field and 7-9 from three point range. Brunson shot a three at the end of the game that hit the front of the rim and Anunoby followed it up for a tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Knicks the lead.
The Spurs leading scorer was Wembanyama with 24 on a shaky 9-25 from the field. Dylan Harper recorded 21 points.
With 16 seconds remaining, Jalen Brunson missed a layup that could have given the Knicks the lead. The rebound fell to De’Aaron Fox, but instead of holding the ball and forcing New York to foul while the Spurs led by one, Fox attempted a layup and was blocked, giving the Knicks one last chance.
The only team to comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the finals were the Cavaliers in 2016.
The series will head back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.