NEW YORK — The vibes were immaculate. Until they weren’t. The Knicks were going to sweep the Spurs. Until they didn’t. San Antonio was going to return to Texas, having regained homecourt advantage and reclaimed favorite status to win the 2026 NBA Finals. Until … OG Anunoby.
It was the least assuming play from the least assuming player. A tip-in with 1.2 seconds left from a soft-spoken, dry-witted forward who is perhaps the antithesis of the city he represents.
Anunoby’s reaction to his mind-breaking, game-winning basket that completed the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history?
“It feels cool. I mean, everyone’s pretty excited.”
That’s certainly one way to describe nearly 20,000 fans in Madison Square Garden and millions more in New York City and around the world going ballistic as the franchise went up 3-1 against the Spurs, moving to within one win of its first NBA championship in 53 years.
While Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have dominated headlines all season, it is Anunoby who has quietly served as New York’s star behind the superstars. On Wednesday night, he joined them in that upper echelon. Not even Brunson shone brighter — as bright, but not brighter — than the potential surprise Most Valuable Player of these NBA Finals.
The Spurs barely knew what was hitting them. Five straight from Brunson and Anunoby cut what was once a 29-point deficit to four with 4:34 remaining. After two incredibly clutch baskets from midseason acquisition and native New Yorker Jose Alvarado, five more from Brunson gave the Knicks their first lead of the game with 1:22 left.
And then it was OG’s turn to take over with a chase-down block of De’Aaron Fox — thwarting what might have been an easy layup on a loose ball — and the game-winner … off a deep 3 from Brunson that hit the front rim, bounced into the air and hung just long enough for Anunoby to run 35 feet from where he inbounded the ball into the paint with his outstretched arm tapping it through the hoop.
It’s a play that may go down as the greatest in Knicks history, New York’s equivalent of Michelangelo’s iconic Sistine Chapel fresco, “The Creation of Adam.”
Hang it in The Met.
Call it the “Right Hand From God,” as Towns described it.
Imagn Images
“I challenged a lot of our guys today. OG was one of the guys that I challenged,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said after the game. “I told OG, as big, as strong, as athletic as he is, he’s got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight.
“I don’t know if there’s a play bigger than any other play in the history of Knicks basketball. That was a huge offensive rebound. Huge offensive rebound. He took on the challenge, and he went and won the game for us doing exactly what I called him out for during shootaround today.”
Known for years as one of the league’s best defenders — controversy was abundant in New York’s locker room when he was only chosen for the NBA All-Defensive Second Team this season — Anunoby has, since joining the Knicks, rounded out his game as a clutch offensive performer.
Towns believes Anunoby has become the best two-way player in the NBA. That contention was tough to argue after Game 4.
New York’s second-leading scorer this postseason, Anunoby is now shooting 55.6% from downtown in the NBA Finals with Game 4 serving as one of the best second-half performances in championship series history.
On Wednesday night, when the Knicks needed him the most, he was nearly flawless, draining 7 of 9 treys and the game-winning field goal. Over the final 23:04, he was flawless, going 8 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 from downtown with the block of Fox and game-winning tip both occurring in a span of 9.9 seconds to close out the game.
Anunoby is the first player with a block or steal and a game-winning shot in the final 24 seconds of an NBA Finals game since Michael Jordan did it for the Bulls in 1998. He became just the second player in the last 30 NBA Finals to hit five or more triples without a miss in the second half; the other, Jae Crowder, did it in a 20-point loss for the Suns in 2021.
This is not a one-game aberration, either. Game 4 was no outlier. Anunoby is just the fifth player with 25+ points on 65% shooting in consecutive NBA Finals games … ever. In addition to his 33 points in Game 4, he scored 28 in Game 3 on 9 of 13 shooting.
Of the 268 NBA players who have attempted 85+ 3s in a single postseason, no one has shot better (no, not even Stephen Curry). Anunoby is hitting his triples at a 50.6% clip, making 43 of 85 in these playoffs.
The tip-in was Anunoby’s lone offensive board of the night. It was the third-latest game-winning bucket ever in the NBA Finals. The block was his lone swat. Both came precisely when New York needed them the most.
Anunoby similarly donned the orange & blue when the Knicks needed him the most, as a multitalented wing who could take defensive pressure off Brunson, their budding star seen as somewhat of a liability on that end of the court.
On Wednesday night, Anunoby came through for Brunson once again. It’s no surprise the Knicks’ team captain considers Anunoby part of New York’s triumvirate of leaders, alongside Towns.
“OG is someone who brings it every night, does what’s asked of him, plus more, every single night,” Brunson said. “His work ethic, since the moment I’ve been teammates with him and seen him, has grown. His confidence has grown just because of his work ethic, everything that I’ve seen, he’s got exponentially better at.
“So, regardless of what the outside world thinks of him, we know what we have in our locker room, and we have a superstar in that locker room.”
There were many who questioned team president Leon Rose when he chose to trade two of New York’s brightest young players (RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley) — seemingly rare draft wins for the franchise — for the 6-foot-7 forward in the middle of the 2023-24 season. All Anunoby has done since is prove Rose’s prescience in trusting his skill.
Now, all the Knicks need is one more victory to claim their first NBA championship since 1973.