In what will go down as one of the most shocking meltdowns in basketball history, the San Antonio Spurs let a 29-point advantage slip through their fingers, allowing the New York Knicks to snatch a 107-106 victory and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
The defeat prompted an iconic tirade from Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who didn’t hold back on live television.
“That’s the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization,” the outspoken analyst fumed. “You don’t blow a lead like that unless the other team helps you — and San Antonio practically handed this game to New York on a silver platter.”
The drama unfolded at a roaring Madison Square Garden, where celebrities including Taylor Swift and Timothée Chalamet watched OG Anunoby — a London-born forward — tip in the winning basket with just 1.2 seconds remaining.
The bucket capped a staggering second-half rally that erased the largest deficit ever overcome in an NBA Finals game, surpassing the Boston Celtics’ 24-point comeback against the L.A. Lakers in 2008.
San Antonio had looked unstoppable early, surging to a 29-point lead in the second quarter. At halftime, their 76-49 advantage marked the biggest road-team lead in Finals history.
But the second half was a disaster: the Spurs managed only 30 points, crumbling under pressure as the Knicks clawed back possession by possession.
Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, struggled to explain the collapse. “I honestly can’t put it into words right now,” the league’s Defensive Player of the Year admitted. “It’s about execution — or greediness, maybe. We clearly lost our hunger when it mattered most.”
New York still trailed 90-75 entering the final quarter, but Jalen Brunson orchestrated the comeback, putting the Knicks ahead for the first time at 105-104 with 82 seconds left. After Anunoby rejected a Spurs shot that could have made it 108-105 with 11.1 seconds to go, Brunson misfired on a three-pointer — only for Anunoby to soar in for the decisive tip-in.
“One word sums it up: belief,” Brunson told ESPN. “We just kept chipping away. It was never about one big play — it was every single possession.”
Game 5 shifts to San Antonio on Saturday (01:30 BST, Sunday), where the Knicks will try to seal their first championship since 1973.
