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The Knicks were dead in the water practically the entire night in Wednesday's Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. They went into halftime down by 27 points (and were down by as many as 29 points) and even after a solid third quarter, New York still found itself trailing by 20 points with around seven minutes to go.

But the team, aided by the MSG crowd all night, just kept chipping away and somehow made it a one-point game in the final seconds. With one more chance to take the lead, Jalen Brunson heaved a deep three over Victor Wembanyama that bounced off the rim and it looked like the Spurs would escape New York with two wins and a series tied.

However, with nobody boxing him out, OG Anunoby, who inbounded the pass to Brunson right before his shot, came crashing inside the paint, leapt up and was able to execute the perfect tip-in that gave the Knicks the lead with 1.2 seconds left and then the eventual win.

Naturally, the raucous crowd went insane after seeing the ball go through the net and the Knicks radio call was equally as exciting:

The Knicks radio broadcast reacting to the game-winner by OG Anunoby and the missed potential game-winner by Castle.

They also get wet a bit, as Knicks fans celebrate about them, and the announcer used the term "soak it up New York" on purpose, in retaliation. pic.twitter.com/Bs74EmeHOw

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) June 11, 2026

The tip-in was the perfect end to Anunoby's magical night, in which he scored 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 7-of-9 from three. He and Brunson combined for 69 points and were the main catalysts for the comeback. 

Anunoby contributed on defense as well, blocking a shot by De'Aaron Fox on a fast-break attempt on the possession prior that would've given San Antonio a three-point lead with around 10 seconds left. The decision by Fox to shoot the ball and not hold on to it to kill the clock will be debated heavily, but Anunoby's ability to block the shot without fouling Fox was also stellar and another clutch play by the do-it-all forward.

Spurs radio play-by-play Dan Weiss and Spurs legend Sean Elliott were on the radio for San Antonio and were stunned by the Anunoby play.

"Sean, you said he's played the game of his life here tonight. And he may have just made the play of his life on that play," Weiss said.

"I thought he was the X-Factor coming into this series and he's untouched," Elliott responded. "You got two guys on the ball up top with Jalen Brunson. So you have numbers for the Knicks on the offensive glass and Anunoby goes down the paint for the tip." 

The Spurs radio announcers reacting to OG Anunoby game-winning tip in and the missed potential game-winner by Stephon Castle pic.twitter.com/3mgfIHJc6v

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) June 11, 2026

There are two sides to a comeback the likes of which the basketball world saw on Wednesday night.

While the Knicks chipped away at a 29-point deficit in the second half, eventually taking the lead and holding on in improbable fashion, the Spurs allowed such a comeback.

But why and how did it happen?

Well, it was two-fold. The hot shooting that the Spurs enjoyed in the first half -- making 59.6 percent of their shots and 53.8 from three through the first two quarters -- led to 76 points. That was lost in the third and fourth quarters as San Antonio made just 20.5 percent of their shots and 17.6 percent from three. They scored just 30 points. 

They also turned the ball over nine times in the second half, when they only had two in the first. 

"To put as much good work into that first half as we did and get the lead that we had and not finish the job, it's disappointing to say the least," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the game. "We felt the momentum [shift]. Too much to overcome? I didn’t feel that way until the clock hit zero.... We got away from playing the brand of basketball that got us the lead. And then you saw At times, the aggressiveness and conviction taht we played with early on dissipated and they made some shots. We needed a couple of more tough-minded plays to finish the job."

"It began before that," Victor Wembanyama said of when the collapse started. "I can’t really explain it right now. Execution, greediness, of some sort. We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half." 

Wembanyama enjoyed 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting in the first half. In the second half, he scored just eight points on 3 of 14 shooting and missed two crucial free throws in the waning minutes. 

When the star center was asked about the feeling in the locker room, he described it as "painful."

"Feels like we worked too hard to give up our lead. It’s as simple as that. It just hurt," he said.

"It definitely hurt, angry. It’s all fuel for the fire for us," Spurs guard Dylan Harper, who finished with 21 points said. "We’re going to go out the next game with a sense of fire. And just move on to Game 5. Nothing we can do about it now."

The series shifts back to San Antonio as the Spurs face elimination. They've been in this situation before. In the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder, the Spurs won Game 6 at home and a deciding Game 7 on the road to eliminate the defending champions. 

That experience paints Wembanyama's outlook on the series despite being down 1-3 in the series. And he believes his teammates will respond.

"It’s going to go one of two ways," Wembanyama said. "One of two ways. A bad one and a good one. The bad one will be giving up. The good one will be getting stronger through this, getting more together and that’s what we’re going to do."

He added: "Holding each other accountable, communicating, not pointing fingers. After that, we either got it or we don’t. We’ver proven that we can surpass these difficulties but even though we haven’t been there it before, I’m convinced we are built this way. We’re going to get better from this and It’s going to tighten us up."

Game 5 takes place Saturday night with the Knicks looking to capture their first title in over 50 years.  

Victor Wembanyama was asked about the Spurs' second half collapse in Game 4

"Can't really explain it right now. Execution, greediness of some sort. We clearly weren't the most hungry in the second half" pic.twitter.com/uMGFV6HR9m

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 11, 2026

The New York Knicksmade history in Game 4 of the NBA Finals when they overcame a 29-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 on Wednesday, June 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Victor Wembanyama and the Western Conference champions put a smacking on the home team in the first half and built their 29-point lead. Then, they cooled down − starting the second half shooting 6-of-34 (17.6%) − the Defensive Player of the Year had a flagrant foul, and the Knicks kept chipping away. OG Anunoby hit the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds left.

Anunoby finished with 33 points and Jalen Brunson added 36 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.

This was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and puts the Knicks up 3-1. It was the first home win of the series for either team. In a playoff series where the first three games were won by the road teams, the winner of Game 4 is 13-3 in the series.

Here are some other Knicks stats from the epic win:

• 29 points - largest comeback in NBA Finals history
• NBA teams were 4-750 in the playoffs when down by 20-plus points in the fourth quarter in the playoffs in the last 30 years (per NBA stats expert Keerthika Uthayakumar)
• The Knicks are 5-3 when down 20-plus points in the postseason the past two years. The rest of the NBA is 4-71 (per AP reporter Josh Dubow)

The New York Knicks gave their fan base something to celebrate after producing the largest comeback in NBA Finals history at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks trailed most of the game and by as many as 29 points before turning things around in the second half.

Rapper Fat Joe, actor Timothee Chalamet and former New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia were among those hanging around on the court after the game.

Actor Mariska Hargitay and singer Taylor Swift were also seen dancing and celebrating courtside in the closing moments of the game.

A majority of the crowd hung around at the Garden in the minutes that followed the game to celebrate the Knicks’ victory.

The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the series with Game 5 in San Antonio on Saturday, June 13.

Here’s how New York, and the internet, celebrated the Game 4 victory.

Calder Trophy-winning defenseman Matthew Schaefer has been all over Long Island since the New York Islanders selected him first overall at the 2025 NHL Draft. 

One place he hadn't been: Madison Square Garden for a New York Knicks game. 

That changed on Wednesday night, when Schaefer took in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. 

New York supporting New York 🍎

No. 1 pick and Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer is in the house rooting for the Knicks in Game 4.@NYIslanders | @nyknickspic.twitter.com/61LP2fYkGf

— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) June 10, 2026

The Knicks rallied from down 29 points to beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead. 

OG Anunoby crashed the paint before his rebound attempt off a Jalen Brunson miss went in with just 1.2 seconds to play in regulation.

THE PLAY THAT PUT THE KNICKS UP 3-1. pic.twitter.com/l4c1ZCRnNC

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) June 11, 2026

Schaefer was on hand for what was the greatest comeback win we've ever seen.

Now the Knicks are on the verge of their first championship win since 1973. 

The New York Knicks completed the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history when they recovered from a 29-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, June 10.

OG Anunoby hit the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds on the clock. He inbounded the ball to Jalen Brunson, who missed a 3-point shot. Anunoby then ran in to get the rebound and tossed in the game-winning shot.

The crowd at the historic arena erupted.

OG ANUNOBY WITH THE PUTBACK.

KNICKS COMPLETE THE 29-PT COMEBACK FOR THE WIN.

LARGEST COMEBACK IN NBA FINALS HISTORY 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ZtWVWY6JsR

— NBA (@NBA) June 11, 2026

"It’s electric, you hear the fans. It’s amazing," Anunoby said on the ABC broadcast after the game.

The New York Knicks stared into the abyss and somehow found a way out.

Facing a 29-point deficit in front of a shell-shocked Madison Square Garden crowd, New York completed the largest comeback in NBA finals history on Wednesday night when OG Anunoby’s tip-in off a Jalen Brunson missed three with 1.2 seconds left made the difference in a 107-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4. The Knicks are within one win of their first NBA championship in 53 years.

Related: NBA finals 2026 Game 4: Knicks pull off historic 29-point comeback to beat Spurs 107-106

The stunning result gave New York a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and sent thousands of fans pouring into the Manhattan streets chanting and celebrating after the final buzzer. The Knicks can secure their first title since 1973 when the series returns to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday night, completing a journey that has transformed a season of lofty expectations into the brink of immortality.

For much of the evening, that possibility seemed absurd. The Spurs overwhelmed New York from the opening tip, racing to an early double-digit lead before stretching the margin to 29 in the second quarter. Victor Wembanyama controlled the game at both ends, San Antonio buried three-pointers at a blistering rate, and the Garden crowd was brought to heel.

Then in the fourth quarter, it changed in a blur. The Knicks ripped off a 28-9 run over just more than seven minutes in the fourth quarter, all light and flash, turning every defensive stop into a fast-break opportunity and every basket into a fresh wave of belief. The deficit shrank possession by possession until Brunson finally delivered the breakthrough, driving through traffic for a layup with 1:22 remaining to give the Knicks their first lead of the game at 105-104.

The Spurs would take back the lead once more on a pair of Stephon Castle free throws, setting the stage for Anunoby’s last-gasp tip-in to put the Knicks on the doorstep of history.

Wembanyama finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for San Antonio, who had appeared poised to seize control of the series after winning Game 3 and building their lead on Wednesday night. Instead, the Spurs were left to contemplate a collapse for the ages.

More to follow.

The New York Knicks trailed the San Antonio Spurs by 29 points during the second half of Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals. The Knicks chipped away at the lead as the game headed into the fourth quarter, but the Spurs still led by 20 points during the final period.

Somehow, the Knicks never gave up. New York stunned the Spurs, 107-106, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the 2026 NBA Finals. The Knicks will have a chance to win their first championship since 1973 in Game 5 on Saturday as the series moves back to San Antonio. It’s an unfathomable collapse for the Spurs after such a dominant first half.

OG Anunoby scored the game-winning basket by tipping in a missed three-pointer from Jalen Brunson with one second left.

The Spurs’ offense was absolutely atrocious in the second half. San Antonio scored 76 points in the first half, but only scored 30 points in the second half. The Spurs made several massive mistakes down the stretch to let the Knicks back into the game.

Victor Wembanyama bricked two free throws with 1:47 left in regulation as his team held onto a one-point lead. De’Aaron Fox had a chance to preserve the lead for the Spurs when he came up with a loose ball with 15 seconds left, but for some reason Fox decided to shoot a layup instead of trying to run out the clock, and Anunoby blocked it.

San Antonio showed its inexperience in the loss. That extends to their coaching staff, too. It felt like San Antonio needed to call a timeout to help stem the tide of the Knicks’ huge comeback, but it didn’t happen until it was too late.

Jalen Brunson hit some unbelievable shots down the stretch. This was a gutsy pull-up three to make it a one-point game with just over two minutes left.

Brunson then put the Knicks in front with under 90 seconds left with a ridiculous touch shot in the lane.

Brunson finished with 36 points on 12-of-25 shooting with five rebounds and seven assists. Anunoby added 33 points on 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range. No other Knicks scored more than Karl-Anthony Towns’ 13 points.

Wembanyama scored 24 points on 9-of-25 shooting. Dylan Harper had 21 points off the bench, but didn’t do much down the stretch.

What a collapse for the Spurs. What a comeback for the Knicks. New York is one win away from a title, and if it happens, Game 4 will be remembered forever as the game that swung the seies.

The Knicks completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, overturning a 29-point third-quarter deficit to grab an extraordinary 107-106 win in Game 4 of the NBA Finals to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining completed a total collapse by San Antonio as New York, which did not have a lead in the game until the final quarter, was down by 20 with 9:33 to play. 

Anunoby finished with 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting (7-for-9 from three) in 41 minutes, and made a crucial defensive play on the Spurs' penultimate possession with the Knicks down by one.

Jalen Brunson, with Karl-Anthony Towns hampered by early foul trouble, again kept New York alive, scoring a game-high 36 points on 12-for-25 shooting with seven assists and five rebounds in 44 minutes and coming up huge down the stretch.

The Knicks, who couldn’t do anything to stop the Spurs in the first half – the visitors put up 79 points on 28-for-47 shooting (59.6 percent) – found the right formula, letting San Antonio crumble in the second half as they went an improbable 8-for-39 (20.5 percent) from the floor. Victor Wembanyama, who had 16 points in the first half, was 3-for-14 in the second half, and perhaps committed the foul of the game early in the third.

The Knicks, meanwhile, went 21-for-41 (51.2 percent) from the floor in the second half, including 12-for-20 in the fourth quarter.

Here are the takeaways... 

- Early in the third, with the Spurs’ lead up to 29, Wembanyama caught Towns with an elbow and after a review, the Spurs' big man was given a Flagrant-1 for contact deemed “unnecessary” to Towns' chin. (Had the NBA upgraded the no-call from Game 3, this foul would have resulted in an automatic one-game suspension.)

The crowd, which had been long dormant, came a bit back to life and so did the Knicks, with a 7-0 spurt to force a Mitch Johnson timeout. The intervention failed to do the trick: The lead was down to 16 with threes from Anunoby and Josh Hart as the Spurs went over five minutes without scoring, missing eight straight shots with two turnovers before two at the line halted the run at 13 straight.

San Antonio was just absolutely ice cold out of the half, shooting 4-for-12 from the floor (2-for-12 from deep). The Knicks shot better, but still couldn’t capitalize fully, shooting (9-for-21), including missing several good looks. Brunson had eight points and two assists, his first since the opening quarter, and Anunoby went for 11 with a couple of threes, the last cutting the deficit to 15 points entering the fourth.

- San Antonio started the fourth like the third: 2-for-11 from the floor with Wembanyama missing seven of eight, many right at the rim after getting his own rebound. Towns hit a step-back three to cut the deficit to 12 with 7:28 to play after the Spurs pushed the 15-point deficit to 20 with under 10 to play. (Those were KAT’s first fourth-quarter points of the Finals.) The lead was down to nine with Anunoby hitting his sixth three of the game and Towns hitting a fallaway over Wemby as the Spurs’ creakiness continued.

Brunson put in four straight, and the lead was down to seven with five to play. After another empty possession for the Spurs (2-for-14 in the quarter, three turnovers), JoseAlvarado found a wide-open Anunoby for a corner three to make it a four-point deficit with 4:34 to play, and again the Spurs called for time.

San Antonio got a three-pointer from De'Aaron Fox that they desperately needed. But the defense, which had been so good, continued to fall apart as Avlarado hit an open three with the shot clock winding down before Burnson's three over Wemby cut it to one with 2:21 to play. After Wembanyama missed two free throws, Brunson’s leaner put the Knicks ahead with 1:22 remaining, their first lead of the night. 

After Hart’s great defense forced a Spurs turnover, the Knicks had a huge opportunity but couldn’t beat the 24-second shot clock. Out of a Spurs timeout, Hart let StephonCastle ghost in for the offensive rebound and sent him to the line to give the visitors a one-point edge with 30.3 to play.

Out of timeout, Brunson had his shot blocked and Fox jumped on the loose ball that kicked all the way out toward midcourt. Fox went to the basket, but Anunoby blocked his shot at the cup, and the Knicks called for time with 5.7 seconds remaining. 

Anunoby topped himself following a Burnson missed jumper by ghosting down the lane untouched to tip in the rebound over two Spurs with 1.2 to play for the deciding basket.

- Of course, the game looked like it had its most crucial sequence in the opening 65 seconds. Towns whistled for the first foul 18 seconds into the game and then, on the Knicks’ second possession, KAT got an angle on Wembanyama, and the Spurs’ big man was whistled for a foul at the rim. But a successful Spurs challenge (it was judged Towns hooked Wemby’s arm) sent the Knicks’ big man to the bench with two fouls at the 10:55 mark.

Towns was whistled for his third foul less than five minutes into the second, for a loose-ball foul under the basket. His first half numbers: six points, three rebounds, two turnovers, and a minus-11 in eight minutes. In his absence, the Knicks’ offense just never had any rhythm as the Spurs' defense looked to put the screws to Brunson.

- “We can’t let them start well tonight,” Mike Brown was shown telling his team in the locker room pregame. His words proved a harbinger as the Spurs jumped on the Knicks for a second straight game, grabbing a 12-2 lead and forcing a timeout after less than three minutes. New York started cold, 1-for-7 from the field with two turnovers.

The Spurs shooting was elite from the get-go, connecting on 6 of 10 from deep, as they shot 65 percent overall for a 19-point lead with Wembyanama scoring 13 points and Devin Vassell adding 12. 

On the other end, the visitor’s defense was just as elite and suffocating, angering the MSG crowd who believed there were uncalled fouls, as New York shot just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) in the quarter. 

The Knicks’ lack of composure came to bear when Mitchell Robinson gave Wembanyama a forearm to the head, resulting in an off-ball offensive foul and, after review, a Flagrant-1. (Wemby let Robinson know about the mistake and pointed his finger at his head in the process.)

- It was more of the same in the second: Despite Annunoby hitting his second three to give him a team-high 10, Fox answered with back-to-back threes. On the second, Alvarado committed a loose-ball foul on Wembanyama for grabbing the big man’s leg as the Knicks continued to look out of sorts and stared at a 23-point hole. 

Brunson was a non-factor in the opening quarter with four points (0-for-3 from the floor) with three assists. He looked to find some rhythm with back-to-back buckets three minutes into the second, but never found any companions to help him. He had 15 in the quarter to give him 19 for the game, but was 6-for-14 from the floor and a minus-19 in 21 minutes. 

Anunoby had 14 in the first half, but was a team-worst minus-27 in 21 minutes. Mikal Bridges, a huge part of the Knicks' run, was again quiet with just five points in the first half (2-for-4) and a minus-16 in 18 minutes. Hart had three with six rebounds and three assists, and was a minus-12 in 16 minutes.

Digging deep into the bench, the Knicks used seven reserves in the first half, and got just two points on 1-for-10 shooting, with Landry Shamet (minus-14 in 13 minutes) and Miles McBride (minus-11 in six) going scoreless.

At the half, the Spurs had Wemby (16), Vassell (15), Dylan Harper (15 off the bench), and Fox (13) all in double digits for a 27-point lead, the third-largest halftime edge in Finals history.

- Alvarado finished with eight points off the bench in 16 minutes. Towns had 13 points with 10 rebounds and was a plus-17 in 26 minutes, as he was big in the second half. Bridges had seven points on 3-for-9 shooting. Hart had six points with eight rebounds, six assists, two steals, and was a plus-11 in 33 minutes.

Game MVP: OG Anunoby

He finished a minus-1 and Brunson was a plus-11, but for the block of Fox to preserve the one-point deficit and the game-winner, he gets the nod.

Highlights

JALEN BRUNSON!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/jwQUJxf50t

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 11, 2026

OG ANUNOBY WITH THE GAME-WINNING PUTBACK FOR THE KNICKS!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HHnJzVNDjw

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 11, 2026

LISTEN TO THAT GARDEN CROWD ROAR FOR THAT GAME-WINNER pic.twitter.com/Dy3ZKnaCln

— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 11, 2026

What's next

The Knicks look to close out the series and capture their first NBA title in 53 years in Game 5 on Saturday night in San Antonio. Tip is set for just after 8:30 p.m.

NEW YORK -— OG Anunoby’s tip-in off Jalen Brunson's missed three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left completed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history as the New York Knicks bolted back from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, bringing them one step closer to their first championship since 1973.

The victory marked biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, surpassing the 24-point lead that the Los Angeles Lakers blew in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals against the Boston Celtics.

Jalen Brunson scored 36 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:21 left that brought the Knicks within one, and his five-foot floater in the lane a minute later gave them a 105-104 lead. Stephon Castle’s two free throws gave the Spurs their last lead at 106-105 with 30.3 seconds before Anunoby sent Madison Square Garden into a frenzy. The Spurs' last shot at the buzzer missed and the historic rally was complete with the crowd still celebrating in the arena more than 30 minutes after the game ended.

Anunoby hit seven three-pointers and scored 33 points for New York, and Karl Anthony Towns, who overcame early foul trouble, had 13 points and 10 rebounds.