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The New York Knicks made a record comeback from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 on Wednesday night.
OG Anunoby tipped in the miss of Jalen Brunson’s long 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds remaining to complete the rally, giving the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and three chances to win the title.
It looked impossible early, when the Spurs rolled to a 27-point halftime lead. But Brunson helped bring the Knicks back with 36 points and Anunoby finished with 33.
Game 5 is Saturday night in San Antonio.
No team had come from more than 24 points down in a finals game, when Boston did it against the Lakers in 2008, since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters in 1997. The Spurs led 81-52 in the third quarter.
The only bigger comeback on record in any playoff game was 31 points by the Los Angeles Clippers against Golden State in Game 2 of a first-round series in 2019.
The Knicks had their 13-game winning streak snapped in Game 3 and seemed headed for a second straight defeat throughout the first half, when Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs opened the biggest halftime lead by a visiting team in the finals.
But the young Spurs, who made 11 of their first 16 3-pointers, went cold in the second half, going 3 for 17 behind the arc as the Knicks outscored them 58-30.
"We got on our heels — we missed some shots," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "It’s disappointing, to say the least."
Delirious fans inside Madison Square Garden sang along to Journey's "Don’t Stop Believin’" a few minutes after watching something that seemed almost impossible.
Wembanyama had 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot just 9 for 25 from the field.
Road teams had won the first three games, only the second time that had happened in the finals. San Antonio was well on its way to making it 4 for 4.
President Donald Trump wasn’t at this game — Taylor Swift was — but the same restrictions remained around Madison Square Garden as when he attended Game 3. That angered the Knicks, who decided not to go forward with plans to hold an outdoor watch party outside the arena.
Inside the building in the first half, there wasn’t much for the hosts to be happy about, either.
But the Knicks gave themselves a chance by limiting the Spurs to 14 points on 4-for-20 shooting in the third quarter, using a 13-0 run to get back in it and cutting it to 90-75 heading to the fourth.
These Knicks, who erased a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, just don’t quit. Even when the comeback seemed for naught when Stephon Castle was fouled after the Knicks had taken the lead and made two free throws to put San Antonio back ahead with 30 seconds left, the Knicks had one more rally in them.
Dylan Harper scored 21 points and De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell each had 18 for the Spurs, who will try to regroup and send the series back to New York for Game 6 on Tuesday.
Fans booed Wembanyama when he came on to the floor to warm up about an hour before the game and the Knicks tried to get rough with him, with Mitchell Robinson called for a flagrant foul for hitting him above the shoulders and Jose Alvarado reviewed for one after going below the belt.
Wembanyama — who was also called for a flagrant — stood up OK against the Knicks but will regret the two free throws he missed with 1:47 left and San Antonio leading 104-103.
The other side:
For all the shots Victor Wembanyama hit to get the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals, the series is beginning to be defined by a few of his misses.
After clanking his shot off the rim at the buzzer on what would have been the Game 2 winner, Wembanyama did the same on two key free throws late in Game 4. With the chance to put his team up by three with 1:47 left, he instead went 0 for 2, and the New York Knicks took the lead and went on to win 107-106 on Anunoby's tip-in with 1.2 seconds left.
Wembanyama and the Spurs are now facing elimination, down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. It mattered little that the 7-foot-4 big man from France scored 24 points and had 13 rebounds.
It mattered more that the Knicks held Wembanyama to eight points after halftime on the way to rallying from 29 points down, the largest comeback in finals history.
Dig deeper:
Taylor Swift attended Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden, the arena that has gotten a lot of attention recently as the possible location for her upcoming wedding to Travis Kelce.
Swift wore a blue T-shirt with "Stevie Knicks" printed in orange lettering and was seated courtside on Wednesday night. She attended along with singers Este and Alana Haim, who also had Knicks-related references on their shirts: "Knickole Kidman" and "Knickleback."
Less than a year after their August engagement announcement, reports of Swift and Kelce’s impending nuptials have reached a crescendo. TMZ and the New York Post’s Page Six recently started insisting Swift and Kelce will marry at the Garden in early July, despite their close connections to everywhere from Kansas City, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee, to Cleveland and Rhode Island.
Swift and the Haim sisters were among several celebrities in the house, including regulars like Ben Stiller and Spike Lee. Swift and Kelce attended Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Knicks and Cavaliers, not far from where the Kansas City Chiefs tight end is from in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
This is the latest sporting event for Swift, who along with Kelce also attended a game during the NHL's Stanley Cup Final a year ago in Sunrise, Florida.
The Madison Square Garden wedding reports remain unconfirmed, and a spokesperson for Swift has not responded to The Associated Press’ requests for comment about the wedding plans. The arena’s calendar of upcoming events lists nothing from June 29-July 6.
Swift first performed at Madison Square Garden in 2009, during her "Fearless" tour, and she celebrated her 30th birthday at the arena 10 years later as part of iHeartRadio’s "Jingle Ball." She has since graduated to larger venues when she swings through the New York area; her Eras tour shows were just across the river at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
AP Entertainment Editor Mallika Sen contributed to this report.