June 29: 29 Thoughts on the Wildest Comeback in Finals History

The stunned celebrities in the stands. Brunson’s heroic performance. The decision that will haunt Fox. Anunoby’s outrageous stat line. Moments after New York erased a 29-point second-half deficit against the Spurs to win Game 4, Soroka with a few random thoughts.

Sports 5

Published: 11.06.26, 09:40

1 Jerry Seinfeld did not think it was a show about nothing. Taylor Swift did not want to shake it off. Adam Sandler appreciated the hustle. John McEnroe knew what a tiebreak was. Larry Johnson felt the need to tell grandma. Timothée Chalamet felt supreme. Larry David did not want to calm down. Nas knew he no longer ruled the world. Until further notice, this is the world of Ogugua Anunoby Jr., born in London. If you have complaints about anything, from global warming to a borderline parking ticket, talk to his agent.

2 A lot of Knicks fans have complained in recent days that the real fans were priced out of the Garden. That they did not have the money to mortgage the house to buy a ticket. That is true. And still, seeing all the celebrities who are worth roughly more than the GDP of a large number of countries, all trying to find the right facial expressions, all in the same shock as Karin and Jorge and Maria and Mohammed watching the game in Ra'anana or Ghana or Santa Ana or Tijuana, was no less entertaining than the game itself. It was a sports moment nobody will forget, maybe the craziest sports moment of June-July 2026, no matter what happens in the World Cup from tonight on. There is something to see at the Garden (Getty) | Photo: Sports 5

3 4 5 6 It is doubtful whether Alvarado himself, who spent the last few years far from the playoffs and relevance in New Orleans, knew he was built for these levels. The Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn told Andscape in March: “I still hang out with the people I grew up with. I’m sure I’m the New Yorkest person in this group.” Tonight he committed five fouls in his first nine minutes, including a leg grab on Victor Wembanyama that looked more like a WWE move than an NBA one, then he too settled down, and helped Brunson overcome San Antonio’s tremendous defense, and was there for his city and his team in the final minutes.

7 By the way: I am not sure Wembanyama’s unsportsmanlike foul on Towns was more unsportsmanlike than the one that was not called on him outrageously, and was not given retroactively in even more outrageous fashion, in Game 3. But now he is one unsportsmanlike foul of Level 1 away from being ejected from the next game in the Finals. He will have to be careful.

8 Wemby was again very active defensively. He finished 9-for-25 from the field, including something like nine misses on 10 straight shots, even though it felt like about seven of them were self-passes off the rebound until he managed to score. Someone suggested calling this move a Wembound. Maybe he needs a new statistical category. Still, the two free throws he missed, if the Spurs lose the series, will haunt him.

9 It really feels like the two coaches are negotiating over Wemby’s minutes, doesn’t it? They sit him down for a moment, the Knicks try to take advantage and put in a lineup that can run well for about three minutes, only for Wemby to come back after 80 seconds or so? Wemby rested 4:05 minutes in the entire game tonight. And in the second half the Knicks made him work on defense. Quick ball movement, drives, screens at the three-point line. Maybe it is less surprising that he reached the final minutes out of breath.

10 After Wembanyama missed the game-winning shot in Game 2, some said the ball should have been in the hands of De'Aaron Fox, formerly the clutch player of the year when he played for Mike Brown. After Fox hit a huge clutch basket in Game 3, it felt like they were right. In the final seconds of Game 4, the ball was in Fox’s hands, the shot clock was off, the Spurs were up by one, and he could have held it and waited to be fouled. But he saw a lane to an easy layup. Anunoby blocked him.

11 That is the number for Jalen Brunson, who put on a simply heroic performance, especially after not making his first field goal until the start of the second quarter with the Knicks down 20. He kept his team from falling behind by 40 while the rest of his teammates were exhausted, Mikal Bridges looked like “why did they give him five first-round picks,” Towns was getting close-ups on the bench while in foul trouble, Hart was searching for himself, and Landry Shamet was calculating how many millions of dollars the next contract lost him over the last two games. Without Brunson’s and Anunoby’s fighting spirit, the Knicks would have suffered a historic blowout tonight and home-court advantage would have gone back to San Antonio with all the momentum. Jalen Brunson rested 10 seconds in the second half. Wemby ad. Reached the finish tired (Getty) | Photo: Sports 5

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 points for Dylan Harper, nine more than the entire New York Knicks bench combined. Nobody will talk about him too, but the rookie plays with bull-sized balls. I had to check the box score to discover he played nine minutes in the fourth quarter. He had two turnovers, one of them not really his fault (when the ball hit Wemby’s hand on an inbound after good defense by Robinson), and only two field-goal attempts. He probably should have demanded the ball more, but the Knicks did a great job on him and he was barely noticed.

22 The rest of San Antonio’s bench scored seven points combined. Does anyone remember that Keldon Johnson was chosen Sixth Man of the Year? In the Spurs’ only win in the series, he had seven points and three field goals. In the three losses, he has eight points combined on 3-for-13 shooting. The Spurs still need more from the bench players who are not sons of Ron Harper.

23 That is Mitchell Robinson’s number, the most confusing player in this series. His broken pinky finger, by the way, what did he break it on? It still seems to bother him. Every time he goes to the free-throw line, the graphic notes that he has the worst free-throw percentage in playoff history. He went 0-for-4 tonight.

24 Can you say this series is not over yet? Or after what we have seen, is there no way to expect more than this? I have a feeling we are still going back to Game 6 at the Garden. Every game in this series has ended in absolute cinema. Even this one, which should not have gotten there at all, but will go down as the greatest comeback in Finals history.

25 Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer over two defenders was, on the face of it, pretty crazy, but it felt right in the moment, and mostly gave an offensive-rebound opportunity.

26 Ogugua is a name from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. Its literal translation according to Google is “comfort,” “peace of mind,” or “relief.”

27 What relief he brought tonight to New York fans, who have been flooding the streets in recent weeks. How much peace of mind it takes to go up for an offensive rebound at exactly the right time like that.

28 If the Knicks win the championship, we will see variations of Anunoby’s outstretched hand in the style of the Statue of Liberty. An image that will greet visitors to the Met Gala museum for years to come.

29 Spike Lee realized it was hour 25. Ben Stiller had a wild night. Jimmy Fallon was a guest on The Tonight Show. Jeremy Lin knows what insanity is. Mariska Hargitay understood that New York has a special law and order department. It is called Ogugua Anunoby Jr.