After stunning, historic comeback, Knicks just one win from first NBA title in 53 years

People ran onto the court. Chants of “O-G! O-G!” The video board showed Timothée Chalamet covering his face in excitement. 

The Knicks celebrate their 107-106 victory. Dustin Satloff / Getty Images

San Antonio had one final chance to lead on an inbounds play in the final second, but it bobbled the pass and could not get a shot off, leaving the stunned Madison Square Garden crowd howling and the Knicks one win away from their first NBA championship since 1973. 

The Knicks trailed by 20 in the fourth quarter before winning, 107-106.

The Knicks will have an inbounds play with 5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and a chance to win the game. They trail, 106-105. This play could cap the most improbable comeback in Finals history.

Clutch free throws by San Antonio's Stephon Castle have given the Spurs a 106-105 lead with 30.3 seconds remaining. It's the second consecutive game in which Castle has calmly made free throws in the final minute.

The crowd on their feet.  Al Bello / Getty Images

Everyone is standing for the final few minutes of this one. Still rocking.

Section 325 is literally shaking after that OG Anunoby 3. This is easily the loudest Knicks fans have been since the start of Game 3, and they can smell a historic comeback brewing.

Fans during Game 4. Mike Lawrence / NBAE via Getty Images

The 300-level bridge, on which your NBC News correspondents are sitting, is shaking again. The last time it was this loud was when Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer last in the second quarter of Game 3.

The Knicks are in position to pull off what would be the largest comeback in NBA Finals history with four minutes to play in regulation after trimming their 29-point deficit to just four.

A desperation 3-pointer by Karl-Anthony Towns over Keldon Johnson — Towns's first points in the fourth quarter of this series — has pulled the Knicks even closer, within 97-88 with 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. San Antonio's shot selection has been poor, relying on 3-pointers, long 2-pointers and lob attempts in traffic to Victor Wembanyama.

Most of the Spurs regulars have played heavy minutes tonight — except guard Steph Castle, who has dealt with foul trouble. He’s only played about 19 minutes, due to having four fouls. The rest of the San Antonio starters have played 28-plus minutes, and they look a bit gassed. The Spurs might need to lean on Castle to close this one out.

Wembanyama during the third quarter. Al Bello / Getty Images

The Spurs lead by only 15 heading into the fourth quarter, and Victor Wembanyama didn’t take his normal rest in the third. Wemby has already played 32 minutes so far, and 12 more would put him at 44. He’s only played that many minutes once this postseason, playing 49 in a double-overtime win over the Thunder.

With its shooting cooling off and its decision-making faltering, San Antonio saw its lead dwindle from 29 to at few as 15 points in the third quarter. The Spurs had five turnovers in the third quarter after committing just two in the entire first half. They also settled for 3-point looks rather than move the ball.

Many Knicks fans were on their feet for the last few sequences of the third quarter, as New York pulled within 15 points. Chants of “Let’s go Knicks!” rang out, too. This is the most optimistic the crowd has felt since midway through the first quarter.

San Antonio's bench has outscored New York's 26-2 tonight thanks to Dylan Harper's 19 points off the bench.

Wemby just came out, Josh Hart just hit a 3, and it’s only a 16-point game. The Garden is the loudest its been all night.

Madison Square Garden tonight. Mike Lawrence / NBAE via Getty Images

The Knicks have opened the second half on a 10-5 run, and that’s woken up the crowd a little bit. The Spurs’ lead is 81-59 right now, but if New York can get this one under 20, all of a sudden a comeback doesn’t seem as far-fetched.

After a level-one flagrant foul was called on Victor Wembanyama, he now has accumulated three flagrant points in this postseason. If he earns one more he will earn an automatic one-game suspension. It will only serve to add more scrutiny to the NBA's determination Tuesday that Wembanyama's shove of Jalen Brunson in Game 3 did not rise to the level of a flagrant foul. Had they ruled the Game 3 shove was a flagrant, Wembanyama would be suspended for Game 5.

Two minutes into the third quarter San Antonio's lead stands at 81-52 following a corner 3-pointer by Victor Wembanyama. He is now 1-for-5 on 3-point shooting, one of the few Spurs who hasn't shot well from deep.

The Spurs made 14 3-pointers, a Finals record for one half, to seize control of this game in a stunning display of shot-making and poise. Victor Wembanyama has 16 points, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper each have 15, and De'Aaron Fox has 13 points to lead the Spurs, who have made 60% of their field goals and committed just two turnovers.

Jalen Brunson has 19 points to lead New York, but the Knicks have struggled to avoid fouls on defense and struggled to make foul shots on the other end. They are just 15-of-23 from the line.

New York has been testy about the officiating all night, except the Knicks are entering halftime with a 23-6 advantage in free throws. That’s an even bigger disparity than the 24-8 one the Spurs had in the second half of Game 3, which drew the ire of New York head coach Mike Brown.

Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper has been a revelation this postseason, and San Antonio's most reliable player off the bench in the NBA Finals. In Game 3, in a Spurs' win, he shot 1-for-8 from 3-point range. Afterward, he told ESPN that it wouldn't happen again and that every shot felt good coming off his hand.

Well, tonight, Harper is 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half and has scored 15 points.

In an otherwise jaw-dropping first half that San Antonio has dominated the Spurs have had just one problem, and it's that star guard Stephon Castle now has three fouls. If this lead holds, it very well may not matter.

From the early challenge that reversed Wembanyama's foul, to its 3-point shooting, absolutely everything has gone San Antonio's way in Game 4. The Spurs are now 13-of-21 on 3-pointers.

It's Spurs 71, Knicks 42. San Antonio could very well score more than 80 points in this stunning first half.

The largest comeback in Finals history is 24 points, in 2008.

San Antonio has been so sharp that it took until the midway point of the second quarter for its first turnover tonight. A lazy pass by Stephon Castle was stolen by Jalen Brunson, who ran it back for a layup.

San Antonio now leads 59-38 with 6:10 left before halftime.

In the second quarter just now, the Madison Square Garden video board ran a video segment thanking the NYPD, when earlier today, the two organizations appeared to be at odds over the watch party outside the arena, which is not happening tonight.

New York had never trailed by more than 22 points in these playoffs, but that mark has been eclipsed three times already by San Antonio, which has led by 23, 24 and now 25 points in a jaw-dropping performance.

San Antonio has made 11 of its 16 3-pointers.

Madison Square Garden tonight. Dustin Satloff / Getty Images

The Knicks are down by 23 points early in the second quarter, and are only shooting 33% from the field, and Madison Square Garden has been reduced to murmurs. The crowd appears stunned at how New York has started the game. There has been the occasional roar, especially when OG Anunoby makes a 3-pointer. But the Spurs have silenced the crowd so far.

San Antonio has struggled in the second period this series, though it has started tonight on a 6-3 run.

Here’s what Mitch Johnson said when I asked him about the team’s substitution pattern before the game, and how he’s weighed his options for the second quarter:

“It’s kind of the age-old question that is always going to be there, to change, then you start changing too much, chasing your tail, then what do you need to do better.

"It’s just they’ve played well during that stretch. We’d like to be better in every quarter. We have played some different sub patterns in that quarter and haven’t found anything up to now that has worked.

"We started the quarter well sometimes. Haven’t finished it well. Vice versa. You just kind of keep taking the feedback from previous games and push yourself to be better. My job is to help the guys put them in environments and situations to be better. Hopefully we’ll have a better second quarter tonight.”

San Antonio's 15-point lead was the largest either team had built at any point during these Finals. Then it grew to 17 in the quarter's final minute.

Then 21.

San Antonio shot 65% in the first quarter to 29% for the Knicks.

Seeking a spark, the Knicks turned to a small-ball lineup with ex-Spur Jeremy Sochan at center late in the quarter with traditional centers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson dealing with problematic fouls.

Victor Wembanyama has 13 points to lead San Antonio.

Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs and Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks during the first quarter in Game Four. Al Bello / Getty Images

After scoring a bucket on Mitch Robinson, Victor Wembanyama had some words for him coming down the floor. Robinson didn’t appear to take too kindly to whatever Wemby had to say, as he threw his forearm into Wembanyama’s neck and head area. That was ruled a flagrant.

The Knicks have been chirping at the referees at both ends of the floor. Jose Alvarado just had a short conversation with Karl-Anthony Towns during the last break in action, after Towns looked particularly miffed with what he thought was a missed call.

San Antonio has made six of its first eight 3-pointers to lead, 30-17, with four minutes still to play in the opening quarter. Meanwhile the Knicks have only been able to play Karl-Anthony Towns, one of their own best 3-point shooters, one minute due to foul trouble.

Vassell, the Spurs’ shooting guard, is already 3-for-3 from 3-point range. On that last one, the Knicks left him wide open as they appeared to double-team Wembanyama.

When Karl-Anthony Towns picked up two quick fouls, that forced backup big man Mitchell Robinson into action. On the first position, before the ball was inbounded, as Victor Wembanyama and Robinson battled for position, a referee went over and appeared to say something to them. After Game 3 was especially physical, it appears the refs will be monitoring the hand-fighting inside tonight.

For the fourth straight game in the Finals, the Spurs have a double-digit lead in the series.

San Antonio has come out swinging — Devin Vassell has already hit two threes, and Justin Champagnie just slammed home a dunk after a New York turnover to push the score to 12-2.

San Antonio just saved its star big man from his first foul. After referees called Wembanyama on a foul on Karl-Anthony Towns, a review determined that Towns had been the one to commit a foul, an offensive foul, by hooking Wembanyama with his arm. San Antonio's 7-foot-4 star pumped his fist at the result.

The Spurs are challenging this foul on Victor Wembanyama. If the call stands, that’s Wemby’s first. If it’s overturned ... that’s two on Karl-Anthony Towns in only 65 seconds.

Nice attack from De’Aaron Fox, who drew a foul on Karl-Anthony Towns. That resulted in a jeer from Knicks fans, who have not been thrilled with the officiating lately.

The Spurs have won the tip, and on the very first possession Karl-Anthony. Towns has picked up a foul on a driving De'Aaron Fox.

Game 3 was a "gut check moment" for the Spurs, and behind Victor Wembanyama and co., the team got its first win of the NBA Finals and spoiled the Knicks' homecoming at MSG.

Who made the decision, however, has sparked accusations by both New York mayor Zohran Mamdani and Knicks owner James Dolan.

During a visit to WFAN before Game 4, Dolan said it was "really the mayor's office" for establishing watch-party restrictions, saying that "it makes absolutely no sense at all. Dolan also accused Mamdani of not being a Knicks fan.

Here was Mamdani's response:

Taylor Swift at Madison Square Garden today. Dustin Satloff / Getty Images

The pop megastar has made her arrival to Game 4, taking a courtside seat across from the Knicks bench. Swift just gave Ben Stiller a hug and shook hands with some fans.

Even as Knicks owner James Dolan and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani go back and forth about a watch party, the scene outside Madison Square Garden felt relatively normal tonight.

There was a heavy police presence and barricades were being set up to control pedestrian flow, but the makeshift walls from Monday were no longer creating a perimeter around the arena. As a result, there were more people moving freely in the hours leading up to gametime.

The New York crowd started booing Victor Wembanyama as soon as he came out for warm-ups. Seems as if Knicks fans are giving him the Trae Young treatment. After the Spurs won Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, a reporter asked how Wembanyama felt being New York's "newest villain."

"I guess," Wembanyama said. "I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though."

When Knicks star Jalen Brunson goes through his pre-game shooting routine, his father, Rick Brunson, passes him the ball each time. It's a small father-son routine that shows the closeness of this Knicks team. Rick is a former NBA player himself who's now an assistant coach on the Knicks' staff.

Often derided during losing Knicks seasons, owner James Dolan has stayed mostly out of the spotlight during the team's playoff surge to a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Two victories away from the franchise's first championship since 1973, Dolan went on WFAN today and predicted a Knicks title.

"We're gonna win tonight, and we're gonna win the Finals," he said.

Mike Florio and Charean Williams discuss Knicks head coach Mike Brown sounding off on the officiating during Game 3, when the Spurs attempted 24 free throws to New York’s eight in the second half.

In Game 4, expect New York to pass the ball more.

Following a Game 3 loss that trimmed the Knicks' series lead to 2-1, a steady drumbeat of self-criticism emerged from the team's remarks.

"Too much ball watching, standing around," Mikal Bridges said.

"We've got to pick up the ball movement, for sure," Karl-Anthony Towns said.

"There were a lot of times where the decisions weren’t made quick," coach Mike Brown said. "One guy caught, held, held, held, held, held. Now the defense settles in. Now you’re in trouble."

The numbers back that up, according to Dean Oliver, a pioneer of analytics who has worked for NBA teams, and now works at ESPN. He posted that in Game 3, the Knicks' potential assists fell from 40 in Game 2 to 29 in Game 3.

Mikal Bridges #25 of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball during the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 3, on Monday. Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images

After scoring 29 points combined in Games 1 and 2 of the Finals while making 11 3-pointers, Knicks wing Mikal Bridges was part of a supporting cast that helped New York grab a 2-0 series lead despite poor-shooting nights by Jalen Brunson.

In Game 3, however, the effectiveness of Bridges was blunted by two quick fouls, sending him to the bench, and he finished with only five shot attempts and two points.

It’s been a while since New York has been in this position: The team coming off a playoff loss and having to adjust. It’s the first time since April 23rd, 13 wins ago.

That’s the Knicks reality after San Antonio came into Madison Square Garden and took Game 3 behind 32 points from Victor Wembanyama, making it a 2-1 series.

“We have a veteran group. Nobody is ‘panicking’ or anything like that,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “Everybody is disappointed that we didn’t go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is. That’s not taking anything away from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play a lot better than what we did.”

Josh Hart put it, “We learned from film today, and we’ll be better tomorrow.”

Tim Legler joins Dan Patrick to break down the amplified physicality of the postseason that was on display in Game 3 and the scope of the series now 2-1.

The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, also known as the “Spurs Nuns,” have often been spotted in the stands at NBA games and even praying with the San Antonio players at courtside. The story goes that a couple of decades ago, retired sisters would write letters to legendary coach Gregg Popovich, who would respond back, and the rest is history.

Who are the nuns praying for the San Antonio Spurs?

01:12

An average of 23.8 million viewers tuned in watch Game 3 on Monday. For context, Game 7 of last year's NBA Finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana averaged 16.4 million viewers.

Yesterday, I was walking past a section of basketball courts in Brooklyn, where teenagers were playing pick-up. During one particularly physical play, one player shouted out, “That’s some Stephon Castle s----!”

The 21-year-old Spurs guard has made a name for himself during these NBA playoffs, for his old-school, physical style of play. Through three games of the NBA Finals, he’s averaging 18 points, 5.7 rebounds, and four assists per game, all while guarding New York’s star player, Jalen Brunson.

Castle got off to a hot start in Game 3, scoring 18 points in the first half, before he hit a critical 3-pointer and two clutch free throws to help seal the game late.

“He might be the most mature player on our team. And he’s nowhere near the oldest,” San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama said after Game 3. “He’s been in big games before. He’s been in big games before the NBA. I’m not surprised by this. He’s shown over and over again that he’s capable and that we are right to put our trust in him.”

On an off day during the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama visited a park, sat on a bench and sketched the statue in front of him on a piece of paper.

He could’ve been in the Tuileries or Jardin du Luxembourg or Jardin du Palais Royal in his native France. But no, he was in New York City, trying to find some peace and quiet and reset his mind after the Spurs had fallen behind the New York Knicks 2-0 in the finals.

“Really tried to relax,” Wembanyama later said. “The playoffs, it’s like — I don’t know how to say that word — a whirlwind. It’s hard to put your head out of the water.” Sometimes he needed “some time off, let my brain cool down, recover,” he added. “Recover as much for the body as for the mind.”

On Monday night, that park seemed so far away as Knicks fans rained vulgarities down on Wembanyama and his teammates inside Madison Square Garden. The Spurs responded with their best game of the series, a 115-111 win that required lots of mental fortitude and, in the end, sent Knicks fans home quiet.

Tuesday evening, the NBA announced that San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama would not be assessed a flagrant foul for his push of New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson during Monday’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Wembanyama, who discarded Brunson with a push to the back of his head during the first quarter, was not called for a common foul on the play. In the aftermath, NBA Senior Vice President of Referee Development and Training Monty McCutchen acknowledged that a foul should have been called.

P.J. Carlesimo joins Dan Patrick to break down the "unbelievable" physicality of the NBA Finals and why it differs from how the game was played in the past.