The New York Knicks completed a 29-point comeback over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, winning 107-106 and taking a 3-1 series lead.
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Despite the elevated physicality on Wednesday, the Spurs put on an impressive display of shot-making. It felt like they could not miss as San Antonio finished the first quarter with a whopping 41 points.
On the other end, the Spurs put Karl-Anthony Towns in foul trouble while keeping Jalen Brunson quiet. The Knicks could only put up 22 points in the opening frame.
In the second quarter, the Knicks ramped up the physicality on Wembanyama even higher. While it wasn’t as lopsided as the first frame, the Spurs were still red-hot from virtually everywhere on the floor.
Brunson finally got his first field goal to fall in the second quarter, but New York couldn’t keep pace with San Antonio’s offense.
By halftime, the Spurs’ lead had ballooned to 27 points.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Knicks went to work in the second half to make it a somewhat competitive game. Victor Wembanyama cooled off even further after an okay first half.
At the same time, the Knicks managed to make some timely layups and trim the deficit to 15 after three quarters.
San Antonio remained ice-cold in the fourth quarter as the Knicks finally came alive on offense at the perfect time. A 20-4 extended New York run turned it into a four-point game with 4.5 minutes to play.
A few back-and-forth scoring exchanges put the Knicks within four with three minutes to go before Brunson knocked down a huge three over Wembanyama.
Up by one, Wembanyama missed two crucial free throws after drawing a foul. Brunson once again came through with a downhill drive into a floater.
After being down by 29 points at one point, the Knicks were in control with one minute to play.
The Spurs played tough defense on the other end, though. They forced the Knicks into a shot clock violation before taking a timeout.
Stephon Castle came through with two clutch free throws after a foul to take the lead, but the Knicks had possession with just under six seconds to go.
Brunson came down the court with and missed a deep three, but OG Anunoby crashed the glass for the biggest tip-in layup of his career.
With just over a second to spare, the Knicks led 107-106. Stephon Castle couldn’t get a shot up on the inbound pass and the Knicks escaped with the largest comeback win in NBA Finals history, along with a 3-1 series lead.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
