‘That was a dumbass play’: De’Aaron Fox’s gaffe leaves door open for historic Knicks comeback

For nearly 47 minutes, the San Antonio Spurs looked poised to leave Madison Square Garden with the NBA finals level at two games apiece.

They’d led by 81-52 in the third quarter, brought a feral Madison Square Garden crowd to heel and put themselves on the verge of reclaiming home-court advantage after having dropped the first two games at home. Even as the Knicks mounted a furious second-half fightback, the Spurs still appeared to have one final lifeline.

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Related: Knicks beat Spurs with largest NBA finals comeback to move to brink of first title since 1973

Then came a decision that could haunt San Antonio for years if the Knicks go on to end their 53-year championship drought.

The Spurs led 106-105 with less than 15 seconds remaining Wednesday night when Jalen Brunson’s floating bank shot ricocheted into the backcourt. The loose ball bounced toward De’Aaron Fox, who sprinted after it and found himself racing toward the basket with only a trailing OG Anunoby between him and what looked like a game-clinching score.

Instead of pulling the ball out and forcing New York to foul, Fox attacked the rim. But Anunoby chased him down and blocked the lay-up attempt.

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Seconds later, the Knicks had the ball back. Brunson missed a 31-footer off the front of the rim, but Anunoby soared in from the top of the key and tipped home the winner with 1.2 seconds remaining, completing an improbable 107-106 victory and the largest comeback in NBA finals history.

Fox did not shy away from explaining his thought process afterward.

“Haven’t scored. Try to get a lay-up, get up three. Force them to need a three,” Fox said. “OG made a good block.”

Asked why he went for the basket rather than dribbling out the clock and forcing a foul, the ninth-year point guard was to the point.

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“I just thought I’d be able to outrun them. That’s it.”

The explanation did little to quell the criticism.

On TNT’s post-game show, Charles Barkley delivered a verdict that quickly spread across social media and sports television.

“That was a dumbass play,” Barkley said. “He did not have to shoot that…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dumbass-play-aaron-fox-gaffe-074315805.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-11 07:43:00

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