History

"Little roller up along first. Behind the bag, it gets through Buckner. Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

- Vince Scully, bottom of the 10th, Game 6, 1986 World Series

I will never forget the range of emotions I felt during that 10th inning in October of '86. The Mets were one pitch away from losing the World Series and I and my friends were desponded. Minutes later, I went from desponded to elated. Mookie Wilson had saved the season. There would be a game seven at Shea Stadium, after all, and the Mets would win it.

To be clear, last night's game at Madison Square Garden was not an elimination game for the New York Knicks. Had they lost, the finals would've been tied at two with game five in San Antonio Saturday night. But the stakes were no less high. A loss would've given the Spurs home court with the prospects of this promising postseason ending up like all the others: in bitter frustration. 

And for the first 24 minutes it certainly looked that way. Unlike game three - which was close throughout - game four was turning into a rout. The Knicks seemed about as interested in playing a basketball game as I used to be taking a calculus class in college. Karl-Anthony Towns picked up two fouls in the first minute of play; the latter courtesy of a terrible call on a challenge by Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. Jalen Brunson resumed his ISO ball which resulted in his teammates standing around like statues. And the vaunted New York defense, which had come to define this playoff run, was nowhere to be seen. San Antonio led 41-22 after one and 76-49 at halftime. The Garden resembled more a mausoleum than a sports complex. Spike Lee looked like he was going to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. 

The Spurs shot 28-47 (59.6%) from the field and 14-26 (53.8%) from three in the first half, while the Knicks shot 15-37 (40.5%) and 4-12 (33.3%) respectively. The Spurs also had more assists than the Knicks: 18 to 7.

But then in the second half New York finally woke up. They started playing defense and began to move the ball around. The Knicks had 16 assists in the half, as they outscored the Spurs 58-30 to win the game 107-106 and take a 3-1 series lead back to San Antonio.

The turning point came with 9:27 to go in the third quarter. The Spurs were up 81-52 when Victor Wembanyama was hit with a flagrant foul 1 for elbowing Towns. KAT converted both free throws and the Knicks never looked back. They narrowed the gap to 90-75 going into the fourth. and took their first lead of the game with 1:22 left in regulation. The Garden, which had been quiet most of the night, erupted. Mariska Hargitay and Taylor Swift were dancing in the aisles. Larry David was actually smiling.

While Brunson had 17 points in the half - 36 for the game - it was OG Anunoby who was the main hero. His block on De'Aaron Fox's layup with 11 seconds to go and his rebound shot with 1.2 seconds left to put his team up for good is the reason New York is one win away from its first championship in 53 years. Anunoby is also one of only five players in NBA finals history to score 30 or more points and the go-ahead field goal in the last three seconds of the game. The other four are Jerry West (1962), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (1974), Hakeem Olajuwon (1995) and Michael Jordan (1997).

Another unsung hero was Jose Alvarado. Mike Brown elected to put him and Brunson together in the backcourt to start the fourth. Alvarado scored 8 points and 3 assists in the quarter. Together, the pair was a plus 21 in 12 minutes. It was a brilliant move by the Knicks coach.

This was the third time in this series that the Knicks successfully overcame a double-digit deficit to win a game. They trailed by 14 points in game one, 12 in game two and 29 in game four; the latest an NBA record for a finals game. The previous record was held by the Celtics who overcame a 24-point deficit against the Lakers in 2008.

After shooting the lights out in the first half, the Spurs went ice cold in the second. They were 8-39 (20.5%) in the field and 3-17 (17.6%) from three. While the Knicks D had a lot to do with their sputtering offense, San Antonio helped them out with their decision making with the ball. For some reason, the Spurs attempted eight consecutive three-pointers up by 25, converting on only one. On twelve separate possessions they shot the ball with more than 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock. This "strategy" was eerily similar to the one the Celtics employed last year against the Knicks. The result was consecutive blown leads in games one and two and an eventual series defeat. 

The number one offender was Fox. He had four turnovers in the second half, one of which was a backcourt violation. His decision to go for a layup in the closing seconds with this team up by one rather than dribble it out and let the Knicks foul him was inexplicable. Seconds after Anunoby blocked his shot, he scored the winning bucket. The two things you must do when you have a big lead is to use the clock to your advantage and don't turn the ball over. The Spurs did neither and it gave the Knicks the opening they needed to eventually win the game.

So now the Knicks have a chance to close out this series and put the Spurs out of their misery. They have to yet play a full 48 minutes in any of these games. Indeed, you could make the case that had it not been for San Antonio's ineptitude, New York might very well be trailing 3-1 instead of leading 3-1. 

But that's water over the damn. Regardless of how they got here, the Knicks are one win away from winning their first championship since 1973. If they are smart they will take care of business Saturday night.