Take a seat on the finish of the bench, The Pitt.
If you happen to turned your TV off at halftime of Sport 4 final evening, you missed the “Ozymandias” (Breaking Dangerous) episode of the 2026 NBA Finals. The New York Knicks orchestrating the biggest comeback in NBA Finals historical past, at house and in entrance of each superstar you and your daughter have ever heard of, was a real episodic masterpiece for ABC. And it was all an OG Anunoby pointer finger away from not occurring.
Bandwagon-hoppers could possibly be forgiven for abandoning the sport after simply the primary quarter, when Victor Wembanyama and the visiting San Antonio Spurs posted a 21 level lead. After one other quarter, the chasm had widened to 27. It might get one bucket worse for Knicks followers earlier than it obtained a lot, a lot better.
Former NBA participant and present ESPN analyst Tim Legler, who referred to as Sport 4 “one of the most iconic and unforgettable games in NBA history — without a doubt,” tells The Hollywood Reporter that he “thought the game was over at halftime if I’m being honest,” including an “LOL.” Hey, this was over textual content.
Even the intermission’s efficiency by the Wu-Tang Clan couldn’t get New Yorkers out of their funk. With 9:40 left within the third quarter, the Spurs led by 29 factors. Historical past instructed us that this factor was over. No person instructed the Knicks.
The biggest comeback ever within the NBA Finals to that time occurred in one other Sport 4, by the Boston Celtics towards the Los Angeles Lakers. However that deficit was solely 24 factors — and Boston nonetheless had two and a half quarters to play. Eighteen years later (to the sport), the Knicks had a win chance of lower than one-half of 1 p.c; contemplating the previous, the quantity ought to have been zero flat.
In different phrases, it was sport over. My oldest, 9, had crept downstairs from her mattress to catch a few of the sport. Trying on the scoreboard, she didn’t protest a lot when turned proper again round. Given what occurred subsequent, it’s unclear if I’m an excellent dad or a nasty one. Hey, at the least she obtained to see Taylor Swift.
It wasn’t till the evening’s remaining boss Antunoby nailed a triple to chop the Spurs result in 97-86 with 6:31 left within the sport that Legler thought we’d have a sport on our fingers.
“That’s the first time I saw real belief in the eyes of both teams,” Legler stated. “Knicks have been like, ‘We can actually do this,” and the Spurs looked like, ‘This can’t be occurring.’”
That perception was prominently on show in Madison Square Garden’s “Celebrity Row,” which on Wednesday almost prolonged to the mezzanine. What the beautiful, well-known folks witnessed firsthand was a greater Hollywood ending than most of their very own films. Seated with Swift have been the Haim sisters and Mariska Hargitay (when she finally got there). There was additionally Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Jonas, Ben Stiller, Rainn Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Larry David, Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, Spike Lee, Fats Joe, Nas, Edie Falco, Alex Rodriguez, Amy Schumer, Scooter Braun, Sydney Sweeney, Liam Neeson, Keke Palmer, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Robust, Jadakiss, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock — the record goes on.
After a very pathetic opening half, the Knicks wanted to offer each row in MSG one thing to cheer about. They did — one step at a time, the one technique to overcome such a deficit. Although the Knicks start to chip away, the lead was nonetheless 20 factors early within the fourth quarter. The New York bench, the identical one ignored for years by former coach Tom Thibodeau, as soon as once more supplied a spark. Positive, Jalen Brunson was good, however his backup José Alvarado was higher. Although he would lead all scorers with 36 factors, Brunson’s greatest contribution of the evening could have been his remaining shot, a miss. With a handful of seconds remaining, down by one, Anunoby inbounded the ball to Brunson, who in all probability pulled the set off a bit too early (and greater than a bit too deep). It was an excellent factor he did, nevertheless, as a result of it gave Anunoby sufficient time to storm the paint unabated and supply the miraculous tip-in that might win the sport and set New York Metropolis on hearth — literally, in some parts.
“I personally have never experienced an environment as good as what we saw last night,” Legler stated. “The energy. The drama. The ending. Blessed to be on the call for that.”
The Knicks, now up three video games to 1, solely led Sport 4 for the ultimate 1.2 seconds — however they have been crucial 1.2 seconds within the sport sequence playoffs franchise’s historical past. Go New York, Go New York, Go! No, critically, now go to San Antonio and produce again the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Sport 6 ideas off Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
