SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs now own the worst collapse in NBA Finals history, but they refuse to be counted out yet.
While the New York Knicks look to clinch their first NBA title since 1973, the Spurs aim to stay alive in the best-of-seven series when they host Game 5 on Saturday night.
New York holds a 3-1 lead after overcoming a 29-point deficit in Game 4 and notching a 107-106 victory over the crestfallen Spurs.
“The games that we’re losing have all been close games,” San Antonio point guard De’Aaron Fox said Friday. “We still have that belief that we have a chance to win. But we’re taking this one game at a time.
“We’re not looking at it as we need to win three games. We need to win tomorrow and then we give ourselves a chance to play another game.”
The Knicks won 105-95 and 105-104 in San Antonio to open the series. The Spurs recorded a 115-111 win in New York in Game 3 before the stunning meltdown Wednesday. The previous largest documented comeback in an NBA Finals game was 24 by the Boston Celtics over the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.
San Antonio led by 20 with 9:33 left in the game. Five minutes later, its lead was just four. New York finished off the comeback with OG Anunoby’s stellar tip-in with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Knicks coach Mike Brown is setting aside all the feel-good moments as his club endeavors to end the 53-year title drought. He rates trying to close out the Finals in a Game 5 at San Antonio as a tough chore.
“It’s going to be hard,” Brown said. “San Antonio’s a great team. They’re desperate. I still think they believe. It’s going to be hard for us.”
Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson hasn’t forgotten his team was down 29 in Game 4. Otherwise, he’s only looking ahead.
“I’ve always told myself when you wake up the next day, it’s time to turn the page,” Brunson said. “Yes, we won, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have a lot to learn. We didn’t play our best basketball. We still have a lot to revisit to make sure that we don’t really put ourselves in that position again.”
Brunson recorded 36 points and seven assists in Game 4 and has scored 30 points or more three times in the series.
Anunoby established career postseason bests of seven 3-pointers and 33 points to go with the tip-in that is already etched in Knicks’ lore.
“Everyone has been telling me how much it means, and obviously I can see how much it means,” Anunoby said. “It’s just really cool to be a part of it, and I’m very grateful.”
Victor Wembanyama recorded 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots but was just 9-of-25 shooting in Game 4. He has scored at least 24 points in each game but is shooting just 43.5% from the field in the series.
Only one team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA title. That was the LeBron James-led 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers who recovered to beat a Golden State Warriors’ squad that won 73 regular-season games.
Wembanyama insists San Antonio can equal that feat. After all, the Spurs had a chance to win each of the first four games.
“Harder than any other game before, by far, for sure,” Wembanyama said of shaking off the Game 4 loss. “I mean, now we’re over it. It’s the playoffs. There’s no time to regret things for too long.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson knows a big opportunity was missed as his club scored just 30 second-half points after pouring in 76 in the first half. But he refuses to get buried in what-if thinking.
“There’s no avoiding what’s happened,” Johnson said. “There’s no avoiding all four games have been winnable games. There’s no avoiding we’re down 3-1. There’s no 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. That’s what helped us get to where we are, and how the group is built.”
