OG Anunoby tipped in Jalen Brunson’s desperation three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to give the Knicks a 107-106 win over the Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and I want to be very precise about what I mean when I say this is the greatest shot in New York Knicks history: I mean there is no other candidate, the conversation is over, goodbye.
CBS Sports has the full breakdown of the shot and Coach Mike Brown called it “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball,” which, yes, fine, but that framing actually undersells it. This wasn’t a buzzer-beater in a playoff opener. This was down 29 points in an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden — the largest comeback in Finals history — and then with the Spurs up 106-105 with 30 seconds left after Josh Hart fouled Stephon Castle and Castle knocked down both free throws, Brunson launched a prayer and OG Anunoby went up and just… redirected it with his right hand. Ball too high to dunk, so he tipped it. In. From God.
The reason it scrambles your brain is because it wasn’t supposed to be OG. Not that moment, not that sequence. Brunson missed the shot. The play broke down. The universe was supposed to close the book on Knicks fans for another winter. And then one man reached up with his right hand and rewrote 53 years of franchise misery in a single tick.
Josh Hart is the person I keep thinking about. Hart had missed a wide-open breakaway layup a couple minutes earlier (the kind of miss that follows a man around for the rest of his life) and then immediately fouled Castle on the other end to hand the Spurs the lead. His post-game quote was: “He saved me, at least for this game, a lifetime of regret.” Which is one of the most honest things a professional athlete has ever said into a microphone, and also perfectly illustrates why this shot hit differently than a regular game-winner. Hart had to sit there for 30 seconds wondering if he had just personally destroyed the Knicks’ season. OG didn’t just win a basketball game. He absolved a man’s sins in real time.
Jaylen Brown, who knows OG better than most after spending years trying to guard him, didn’t mince words:
https://twitter.com/FCHWPO/status/2064921211285762223
Four words. That’s the whole review. From a guy whose team got eliminated earlier in the playoffs, someone with zero reason to be generous — that carries actual weight.
KAT broke down crying. His words: “It was tears of joy… all you can do is ask for a chance. And for me personally, I just wanted one break in life. And I got one.” I have watched entirely too much NBA to be crying at a post-game press conference, and yet here we are.
As a Knicks fan from Bergen County, I am constitutionally incapable of enjoying good things without bracing for them to be taken away, which is why I am still emotionally processing what happened. The Knicks are up 3-1 in the NBA Finals. They haven’t won a championship since 1973. And the shot that probably gets them there was a right-handed tip-in on a broken play by a guy nicknamed after his initials. If you want the full story of how the Knicks pulled this off, go read that piece.
But the short version is: the universe owed Knicks fans one. OG Anunoby collected.
Jalen Brunson’s Finals run set the table. OG flipped it over in the best possible way.
My dad has texted me six times since last night. I’m not answering any of them. I’m just watching the tip-in on loop and pretending I’m a well-adjusted person.
