KNICKS 29-POINT COMEBACK IS THE GREATEST IN FINALS HISTORY

There is a moment in every blowout when the building decides to leave. At Madison Square Garden on June 10, that moment came at halftime, when the San Antonio Spurs walked off up 27 and a section of the lower bowl walked out with them. Those people missed the greatest comeback in the history of the NBA Finals. The New York Knicks beat the Spurs 107 to 106. They were down 29. No team had ever come back from more than 24 in a Finals game, a number Boston set against the Lakers in 2008. The Knicks did not just break the record. They broke it on a tip in with 1.2 seconds left, in front of the people who stayed. If you are building a case for the best Finals game of the century, you start here and you may not need to go anywhere else. ## 27 Down at the Half, the Garden Was Already Leaving The Spurs led by 27 at the break. That is the third largest halftime lead in Finals history. San Antonio pushed it to 29 in the third and still led by 15 entering the fourth. The numbers said the game was over. We even [picked the Knicks to win Game 4](/quick/game-4-pick-knicks-bounce-back-msg-spurs-2026-finals-k9m4r2nt), and through 24 minutes that pick looked like the worst call of the series. The scoreboard lied, but it lied late. For two and a half quarters this was a coronation. Victor Wembanyama was controlling the paint, the Spurs were getting every loose ball, and the same MSG crowd that had carried New York all postseason was sitting on its hands. Then the building remembered who it was. ## The Spurs Scored 30 in the Second Half on 8 of 39 Here is the number that explains the night. San Antonio scored 30 points in the entire second half, on 8 of 39 from the field, 20.5 percent. A team does not blow a 29 point Finals lead because the other team gets hot. It blows it because its own offense turns to stone, and the Spurs offense turned to stone for 24 straight minutes. Wembanyama finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot 9 of 25. The Spurs stopped feeding him and started settling. Every empty possession fed the crowd, and the crowd fed the Knicks. This is the leverage point of the whole game. The Spurs had the lead and lost the will to keep running offense through their best player, the same player [who carried this franchise from Nanterre to the Finals](/quick/victor-wembanyama-nanterre-academy-spurs-2026-nba-finals-knicks-w7k4m2nx). ## Anunoby Tipped In Brunson's Miss With 1.2 Seconds Left Jalen Brunson brought them back. He scored 9 in the fourth, finished with 36 and 7 assists, and was plus 18 over the final 12 minutes. His 3 with 2:21 left cut it to one. His floater in the lane gave the Knicks their first lead of the night at 105 to 104. Then the game did the thing only the great ones do. Down one in the final seconds, Brunson rose for a 3 and missed off the front iron. OG Anunoby crashed the glass, leaped between three Spurs, and tipped it home with 1.2 seconds left. 107 to 106. Anunoby had 33 points on the night and had already blocked De'Aaron Fox in the final 15 seconds to keep New York alive. The role player wedge that decides Finals decided this one, and it decided it twice in 15 seconds. ## This Beats Boston 2008 as the Biggest Finals Comeback The case for best Finals game of the century rests on three legs. It is the largest comeback the Finals has ever produced, surpassing a record that stood since 2008. It ended on a buzzer beating tip in, not a free throw or a clock running out. And it happened in the building that has not raised a banner since 1973, with a title now one win away. Compare it to the field. The 2013 Game 6, Ray Allen's corner 3, was a single shot that saved a series. This was 24 minutes of a team refusing to die, capped by a single shot. Magnitude plus drama plus stakes is the formula, and Game 4 has all three at the maximum. The receipts force the claim. This is the best Finals game since 2000. ## Game 5 Is Saturday, the Knicks Need One of Three New York leads the series 3 to 1. Game 5 is Saturday night in San Antonio. The Knicks need one win in three tries to claim their first championship since 1973, the longest active title drought of any Original NBA franchise. They have three cracks, two of them potentially at home, having taken the Spurs' best punch and survived a 29 point hole. The Spurs are not done. They were 24 minutes of basketball from a 2 to 2 series, and Wembanyama is still the best player in the building most nights. But a team that blows the largest lead in Finals history carries that into the next game whether it admits it or not. The Knicks came in [riding a 43 day stretch without a loss](/quick/knicks-go-43-days-no-loss-up-2-0-on-spurs-mq5jsxh2) and now they carry something heavier: proof that no deficit closes them out. Saturday in San Antonio, the Spurs have to win a game against a team that just proved it cannot be put away. Good luck.