The NBA Finals have been close. Still, Knicks are in command and need 1 win over Spurs for the title

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The final moments in each of the first four games between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in these NBA Finals had much in common, including that the outcome was still undecided with a minute left every time.

Game 1, Knicks led by four with 58 seconds to go. Game 2, Knicks won by one when Victor Wembanyama’s game-winning try just misses. Game 3, Spurs won by four. Game 4, Knicks won by one again after OG Anunoby got a miracle tip-in.

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There hasn’t been a finals like this, with a margin of four points or less in the final minute of each of the first four games, since 1973. New York won that series. The Knicks haven’t been champions since.

That could change Saturday. New York — leading the series 3-1 — can close out the Spurs in San Antonio when the finals resume with Game 5.

“You have to be present,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said Friday. “You can’t think about the outcome. It’s about the process, the next play, the next play, the next play.”

The series could easily be tied right now, after San Antonio wasted a 29-point lead in Game 4 in what became the biggest collapse in NBA Finals history.

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The Spurs led 81-52 in the third quarter on Wednesday night and got outscored 55-25 the rest of the way, missing 29 of their final 35 shots and losing on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining. Taylor Swift was among the many who celebrated long after the final horn, and now the Spurs have to find a way to somehow regroup from absolute agony.

“There’s conviction in strength and confidence,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “That’s what it is. There’s no trick. There’s no avoiding what’s happened. There’s no avoiding all four games have been winnable games. There’s no avoiding we’re down 3-1. There’s not avoiding ways that we could be better. There’s nobody that’s going to be harder on ourselves and accountable to ourselves than the people in the locker room and each other.”

Entering Game 4, teams with leads of 29 or more points in a game were:

— 249-0 this season.

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— 288-2 over the last 30 postseasons.

— 4,088-13…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-finals-close-still-knicks-204952731.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-06-12 20:49:00

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