‘Best two-way player in the NBA:’ OG Anunoby saves Knicks with game-winning tip-in to complete historic comeback

NEW YORK — Before Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals, with his New York Knicks leading 2-1 but in danger of losing their grip on the series, head coach Mike Brown pulled aside his brutish forward, OG Anunoby, who to that point had not grabbed any offensive rebounds.

“As big, as strong, as athletic as you are,” Brown told the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Anunoby, weeks from his 29th birthday, “you’ve got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight.”

Advertisement

“Told me I need to get on the glass,” Anunoby explained, “offensive glass, especially, and just use my ability, size, strength, athleticism, to make an impact on the offensive glass.

“And it happened at the end.”

Did it ever. Trailing 106-105 in Game 4 to the youthful San Antonio Spurs in the final seconds of a series-tilting contest, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson fired a 3-pointer over De’Aaron Fox and the outstretched left arm of 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama. Only Captain Clutch’s 3 sailed wide. But Anunoby was there to snatch it, tipping home a prayer of a put-back.

“I inbounded the ball to Jalen,” said Anunoby, deadpan as ever (at least between smiles). “He got a pretty good look, and I just went and crashed.”

Advertisement

He sliced through the entirety of San Antonio’s stout defense.

“Tried to get a tip-dunk or something,” he added. “The ball went over my head, so I couldn’t really dunk it. So I tried to tip it in softly, and it went in.”

The tip-in — one Brown called “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball” — gave the Knicks a 107-106 lead with 1.2 seconds remaining. It was bedlam in the Garden. A collective scream came from the crowd, arguably the loudest a building has ever been.

And then the world’s most famous arena fell silent. There were 1.2 seconds left, after all.

“The game wasn’t over,” said Anunoby. “I looked up to see the time. If it would’ve been 0.0, I would have been more excited, but it was just 1.2 left. So just knowing: Get a stop now, just stay with it, staying present, not getting too happy because the game is not over yet.”

Advertisement

Following a timeout, on the ensuing inbounds pass, Spurs rookie Dylan Harper…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/best-two-way-player-in-the-nba-og-anunoby-saves-knicks-with-game-winning-tip-in-to-complete-historic-comeback-071149184.html

Author : Ben Rohrbach

Publish date : 2026-06-11 07:11:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.