Madison Square Garden has not heard a roar like it since 1973. The New York Knicks erased a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-114 on Wednesday night, completing the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and moving within one win of the franchise’s first championship in 53 years. Jalen Brunson scored 21 of his 38 points in the final quarter, Victor Wembanyama fouled out with 1:48 remaining, and the Knicks now lead the series 3-1 heading back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Friday.
A collapse for the ages, a comeback to match it
With 9:42 left in the fourth quarter, the Spurs led 97-73. ESPN’s win probability model gave San Antonio a 99.4 per cent chance of tying the series. What followed was the most lopsided closing quarter in Finals history: New York outscored the Spurs 41-17, forcing 11 fourth-quarter turnovers — the most in a single Finals quarter since play-by-play data became available in 1996.
Brunson was the engine. After a quiet opening three quarters in which he managed 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting, the Knicks captain attacked Chris Paul relentlessly off the pick-and-roll, drawing three shooting fouls in a four-minute stretch and converting all eight of his free throws. His step-back three-pointer over Devin Vassell with 2:34 remaining gave New York its first lead of the game at 109-108 and triggered the loudest sustained noise the Garden has produced since Willis Reed limped out of the tunnel in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals.
OG Anunoby added 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges held Wembanyama scoreless in the fourth quarter before the French centre picked up his sixth foul on a contested drive by Josh Hart. Hart finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists off the bench.
Where the Spurs unravelled
Gregg Popovich will spend the flight home reviewing a fourth quarter that exposed every soft edge of a young roster. San Antonio’s nine-man rotation, anchored by 21-year-old Wembanyama and 22-year-old Stephon Castle, had no veteran answer once the Knicks turned up the pressure on the inbounds pass and forced Paul into back-to-back live-ball turnovers.
- Spurs starters combined to shoot 2-of-14 from the field in the fourth quarter
- San Antonio attempted only three free throws in the final 12 minutes, compared with New York’s 19
- Wembanyama finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds but did not score after the 8:11 mark of the fourth
- Castle, the Rookie of the Year, committed four of his six turnovers in the final quarter
The decisive sequence came with 4:12 remaining and the Spurs leading by seven. Paul threw a cross-court pass intended for Vassell that Bridges read and converted into a transition dunk. On the next possession, Castle was stripped by Brunson and the Knicks scored again. A seven-point lead became a one-point game in 38 seconds, and the Garden never quietened.
What it means for Game 5 — and history
The comeback eclipses the previous Finals record of 22 points, set by the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 series. It also surpasses the Houston Rockets’ 20-point recovery against the Boston Celtics in 1986, when Hakeem Olajuwon dragged his team back from the brink. On TNT’s Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley called the Spurs “the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilisation” and questioned whether Popovich would be able to settle his locker room before Friday.
“We had it. We had it and we let it slip,” Wembanyama said in his post-game press conference. “That’s on all of us, not just the guys on the floor at the end. We have to be better in 48 hours.”
The Knicks have not led a Finals series 3-1 since 1973, the year of Reed, Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. No team has ever recovered from 3-1 down in a Finals to win a championship except the 2016 Cavaliers, and the Spurs will need to do so without home-court advantage in Game 7 if they force one. Tom Thibodeau’s side can close the series at the Frost Bank Center on Friday night.
For a fan base that has waited through the Patrick Ewing years, the Carmelo Anthony era and a decade of lottery basketball, Wednesday was the night the wait finally bent towards an ending. One more win, and the drought is over.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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