INSTANT REACTION: The Knicks' Historic 29-Point Comeback

All right, it is close to 3 o'clock in the morning, uh, and I have a very early flight to catch, uh, I guess in just a few hours now.

But we have to talk about what we saw on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

We saw the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.

We saw the greatest game that I have ever seen in my 20 some odd years of covering the NBA.

And we saw the greatest shot that I can remember since Ray Allen made that corner three in the 2013 finals for Miami.

So let's unpack what we saw in this game.

107, 106 is the final score.

Knicks have a 3-1 series lead.

Uh, in the first half, It's fair to say that the Knicks, they, they just look completely lifeless.

Uh, the Spurs were sharp.

They were getting the ball on the inside.

They were driving and kicking, and they were shooting ridiculous percentages from beyond the three-point line.

The Knicks, they just looked preoccupied with other things.

They looked preoccupied with, uh, complaining to the referees.

Now, this stems or this flows from what we saw in game 3 with the issues with the refereeing.

They seem preoccupied with getting some form of vengeance, vengeance, retribution against Victor Wimbayama for the cheap shot he took at Jalen Brunson in game 3.

You saw Mitchell Robinson take a shot at Wembby.

You saw, uh, Jose Alvarado knock him down in the 2nd quarter.

Like they were, they were bumping him all throughout the first half and it seemed like it was taking away from what they were trying to do.

Uh, it was a 27 point lead.

In, at halftime.

It was a 29 point lead early in the third quarter.

It was a 20-point lead with 9.5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

You give a team like San Antonio, those kinds of advantages and 99 times out of 100, they come out of the, out of this game with a win.

This one, they didn't.

So what happened in the second half?

Let's start with what happened in the locker room at halftime because Mike Brown and some of the players talked about this a little bit after the game.

Usually at halftime, the assistant coaches, the video coaches have 10 minutes' worth of film edits queued up, ready to go for the team to go over.

That's standard operating procedure.

Uh, this time, they didn't look at any film.

Mike Brown told the team to talk amongst themselves.

And they did.

You know, Carl Towns, he brought up how the Knicks have overcome this kind of adversity in the past.

Uh, he talked about what they did against Boston in the 2nd round of last year's playoffs when they were down big the first couple of games against the Celtics, they came back.

Won those games, wound up winning that series.

OG Annanobi talked a little bit.

Uh, Jose Alvarado talked a little bit.

And as they were leaving the locker room, Mike Brown said to them, said, hey, let's get it within 17 by the 4th quarter and that'll maybe give us a chance to win.

So the Knicks went out and they started chipping away.

You can't overstate.

How horrible San Antonio was in the 3rd quarter of this game.

The 3rd quarter from the Spurs.

was one of the worst quarters of basketball I have seen in the playoffs this year, and I've seen in a very long time.

As locked in as the Spurs were in the first two quarters.

In the 3rd, they let go of the rope.

They did not know how to come out with that kind of lead and play with the same intensity.

They got 3-point happy.

They were 2 of 12 from 3-point range in that 3rd quarter.

And they just kept shooting him.

These were not good 3-pointers.

On one possession, Wembayama took 2 3s.

One possession, took 2 3s, got away from everything that made them successful in the first two quarters, uh, of this game.

Shot 20% overall in that third quarter and allowed the Knicks.

To get within 15, exactly where they wanted it to be.

The 4th quarter, Spurs managed to build in that lead though.

They were up by 20, 9 plus minutes to go.

That should be enough for a team like San Antonio with the kind of defense that it had, that should be enough.

But the Knicks did not stop coming.

Brunson kept making shots , and Enobi made shots.

And the biggest adjustment in this game.

It was Jose Alvarado.

Jose Alvarado going into the fourth quarter, his numbers, 0 of 1.

Didn't do anything, 6 minutes.

It would have been very easy for Mike Brown to put him back on the bench.

But Brown was looking for something.

He was looking for a secondary ball handler.

He was looking for somebody to get the ball into the paint, take the ball out of Brunson's hands, make him more of a secondary, not a secondary offensive player, but a guy that can play off the ball a little bit more.

And that's what Alvarado did.

He had 8 points in about 7 minutes.

Uh, 78 minutes of this 4th quarter.

He was a + 17 overall in the 4th quarter.

He was dynamic out there.

He was a difference maker.

He brought energy, he scored , he defended.

He put this team back into the game in the 4th quarter and put them in a position to win.

Uh, two key plays down the stretch, one on San Antonio's side.

This is a play that I think if the Spurs don't come back to win this series, it's probably going to haunt.

The franchise for many years to come.

Uh, about 1516 seconds left.

Brunson misses a six-footer.

Ball comes loose.

De'Aaron Fox taps it into the front court, grabs it right around the, I want to say free throw line extended with about 13 seconds left, and he has a choice then.

They're up by 1.

He can dribble the ball out, wait for the Knicks to foul him, take some time off the clock, get to the free throw line where he's a very good free throw shooter.

Or he can go to the basket and take his chances going up at the rim against OG and Obi.

He chose option B.

Option B was the wrong call.

He challenged Annanobi at the rim.

Annanobi blocked the shot.

The Knicks got the ball back.

Uh, after the game, Fox said he thought he could outrace E Enobi to the rim.

He was wrong.

Catastrophic play.

Can't overstate how bad a play that was.

A veteran player like De'Aaron Fox has to know better.

This is a two-time All-Star, former clutch player of the Year.

A guy that frankly had been having a pretty good game up until that point.

I've been making some shots for the Spurs.

He cannot make a decision like that.

I don't know what he was thinking.

You get the ball in that situation, you've got to have an awareness for the situation.

Uh, you've got to know how much time is left in the clock, the score, what's gonna happen if you pull the ball out.

He pulls the ball out.

The Knicks probably foul with, I wanna say 10, maybe 9 seconds left.

Fox, excellent free throw shooter, probably makes them both.

Forces the Knicks to either make a 3 to tie.

If he makes 1, you have to make a 23 to win.

It's a better situation all around for San Antonio.

And He doesn't do it.

Spurs get the ball back and they have the ball, 6 seconds to play in the, they're in the front court, in the Spurs' front court, uh, with a chance to win.

Now, this is where An Enobi made the play of his life.

Uh, inbounds the ball to Bronson.

And I thought it was interesting.

Like, they got the ball into Brunson Wem Bayama was on Brunson, and they still sent De'Aaron Fox over to double team.

It just seemed like with Wembayama standing there and Brunson 30 some odd feet from the basket, that's a pretty good advantage for San Antonio.

It's not enough time for Brunson to drive, get to the paint, try to create his own shot.

He was always gonna have to take a shot like that.

The double team didn't seem like it was necessary there.

And the double team left Annanobi with a free path to the rim.

Uh, before the game.

Mike Brown said he talked to Annanobi about needing to do a little bit more.

And he talked to Annanobi specifically about needing to dominate the offensive glass.

So Annanobi, in addition to doing that anyway, uh , had it in his head that he had to get to the offensive glass.

He had a free run to the glass.

Brunson's shot, looked right online, uh, just a little bit short, popped up in the air.

Annanobi got that huge hand up there, redirected it, scored 2 seconds left.

Spurs called a timeout, didn't get a shot off on the final play.

Knicks win.

Uh, Just a gut punch for San Antonio, which played outstanding basketball for two quarters, which had You know, I, I, I keep mentioning these numbers.

27 point lead at halftime, 29 in the third.

The big number though for me is 20 points with 9.5 to play in the fourth.

You can't lose leads like that.

Not if you're a championship team.

The Knicks give him credit.

They didn't stop playing.

They just kept coming.

Brunson, once again, 36 points for Brunson, 12 of 25 from the floor, 3 of 7 from 39 of 11 from the free throw line.

And Enobi, who, Look , if the series ended right now, and Inobi's probably the MVP of the series, not just because of that shot, but he has had great games and or great plays in every single game of the series.

Lost in what happened in game 3 was the fact that Annobi was brilliant in that game.

Highly efficient, scoring, doing a little bit of everything.

Game 4, 10 to 15 from the floor.

He is 7 of 9 from three-point range.

Ridiculous.

4 rebounds, 1 assist.

You know, An Enobi back in 2019 was a bench player with the Raptors when they won a championship.

He was an understudy to Kawhi Leonard back then.

Now he is Kawhi Leonard.

He is the Knicks' version of Kawhi Leonard.

Just moves in silence, makes big plays, hard to keep off the glass, a very good defender, efficient scorer.

He's been outstanding in the series.

And that shot, Mike Brown said after the game, greatest shot in New York basketball history.

Hard to argue with him.

Hard to argue because the Knicks, at halftime, they were staring down, going back to San Antonio, tied at 2.

Losing home court advantage, losing momentum.

And they get it all back and then some 3-1 lead.

Is the series over?

Spurs have been resilient.

This is a tough one to come back from.

It's a really tough one to come back from.

Just How this team just gagged away that lead down the stretch.

It's tough to come back from.

I mean, nobody looked good in those final 24 minutes.

I thought it was crazy, frankly, that Mitch Johnson played Victor Wimbayama as many minutes as he did in the 3rd quarter.

Wemby overall played 44 minutes in the 3rd quarter, as I'm looking at this right now.

He played.

11 minutes in the third.

There's no reason for Wemby with a 27 point halftime lead to be playing 11 minutes in the 3rd quarter.

He was out of gas down the stretch.

And when he got to the 4th, His legs were just gone.

Played all 12 minutes of the 4th quarter, 2 of 9.

He was 1 of 4 from the free throw line, missed two clutch free throws down the stretch that would have made a difference in this game for San Antonio.

Uh, Nobody, nobody performed for the Spurs in this game.

And look, again, I know they've been resilient.

They are wiser and more mature than their years suggest.

But this is as big a gut punch as you can possibly get.

Uh, as far as contextually, like, Has there been a better New York sporting Better New York sporting game than what we saw on Wednesday night.

Uh, '86 World Series, ball goes through Buckner's legs, maybe.

Uh, 08 Super Bowl, David Tyree catches the ball of his helmet, maybe.

This is right up there.

This was just as good.

That building was dead.

It was a tomb for 2+ quarters.

It came to life in the 3rd and the 4th.

That was the loudest arena I've ever been in.

In those final minutes of the 4th quarter when the Knicks were making that comeback.

It was raucous in there.

And now, the Knicks can smell blood.

There'll be a lot of New Yorkers down in San Antonio at the Frostbank Center.

I was at the first couple of games.

I would say 20% of the arena was Knicks fans in the first two games.

I bet it's close to 50% in this next one because there's probably no amount of money the Knicks fans won't spend to go celebrate a championship in San Antonio.

Uh, And they'll do it because the Knicks found a way to come through in what was the most incredible comeback I've ever seen, the best game that I have ever seen.

And now we'll see.

We'll see what happens.

Saturday.

Spurs have a couple of days to Kind of rest, recover.

Wemby has a pretty unique ability to kind of put stuff like this behind him.

He did it in game 3, did it for most of game 4.

But a catastrophic finish for San Antonio and just an unbelievable ending for the Knicks.

An unbelievable win for the Knicks, which has them now one step closer to ending the 53 year NBA championship drought.