The New York Knicks are one win from their first NBA championship since 1973. After erasing a 29-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 — the largest comeback in Finals history — they lead the series 3-1 with a chance to clinch in Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio.
If anyone inside the locker room is celebrating, Jalen Brunson isn't. "There's nothing to celebrate," the Knicks guard said after Game 4. "It's not over yet. Not even close." Brunson described the comeback in the plainest terms, crediting a possession-by-possession mindset rather than a grand rally. "There really wasn't that much to be said" at halftime, he said. "It was really just: we need to chip away now. We need to hit singles, get on base, and make plays from there."
The winning sequence belonged to OG Anunoby, who blocked De'Aaron Fox at one end and tipped in the game-winner at the other. Brunson kept his praise simple — "OG being OG just made a play" — and pushed back on the idea that Anunoby is underrated. "Regardless of what the outside world thinks of him, we know what we have in the locker room," he said. "We have a superstar in the locker room."
The tip-in also rescued Josh Hart, whose late miss might have been the lasting image had San Antonio held on. "This game was crazy," Hart said. "I got a special shout-out for OG, because he saved me — at least for this game — a lifetime of regret."
Former Knick Iman Shumpert, who watched from inside Madison Square Garden, said the building's refusal to leave told the story. "One of the most exciting games I ever sat through," he said on The Pat McAfee Show, pointing to fans who "didn't give up on them" and willed Mitchell Robinson through free throws down the stretch. He was quick to temper the mood about what is left. "They got a job to do. They got one more," Shumpert said. "This isn't about them celebrating. This is about us celebrating. We're going to do enough celebrating for them."
San Antonio is not done. The Spurs have led at some stage of every game in the series and host Game 5 needing a win to force the series back to New York. Brunson, who has carried the Knicks' offence all postseason, returned to the leadership theme that has defined his New York tenure. "My parents raised me to never be a follower, always be a leader," he said. "I enjoy trying to set the table." For a franchise that has waited 53 years, setting it one more time would mean a banner. Game 5 tips Saturday; if the Spurs win, Game 6 returns to the Garden.
