On a feverish Wednesday night at Manhattan’s iconic Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks etched their name into NBA history, pulling off the largest comeback in Finals history to secure a 107-106 one-point win over the San Antonio Spurs, with the game-winning basket dropping with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock.
The matchup marked Game 4 of the best-of-seven championship series, and carried extra weight for New York fans: it was the first time the franchise had hosted a Finals game in 27 years, having last reached the league’s final stage back in 1999, when they fell to the very same Spurs side they faced this week.
London-born forward OG Anunoby, who joined the Knicks roster in January 2024, delivered the iconic game-winning three-pointer that sent the sold-out crowd into hysterics. As fans flooded the stands with chants of “O-G! O-G!”, A-list spectators dotted the courtside, including pop superstar Taylor Swift – who sported a playful “Stevie Knicks” shirt that blended the team’s name with Fleetwood Mac legend Stevie Nicks – Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet, iconic New York filmmaker Spike Lee, late-night host Jimmy Fallon, comedy star Ben Stiller, and pop trio Haim members Este and Alana Haim. Post-game, Swift was spotted jumping for joy while exiting the arena, even stopping for a playful twirl with a member of the Knicks City Dancers.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani captured the collective shock and joy of the city in a viral all-caps post on X, writing simply: “SPEECHLESS.” Knicks head coach Mike Brown echoed that awe in post-game comments, calling Anunoby’s clutch shot “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball” adding, “It was just unbelievable.”
The 2025-26 season has already represented a stunning reversal of fortune for a franchise that has spent decades mired in mediocrity after its 1999 Finals appearance. Long-suffering New Yorkers have poured into city streets to celebrate every playoff win, turning the five boroughs into a sea of orange and blue. City landmarks have embraced the moment: the Empire State Building has been lit up in the team’s signature colors every game night, and even the iconic marble lions outside the New York Public Library’s Fifth Avenue branch have gotten in on the Knicks fever.
“It’s electric out there, you can feel the energy everywhere you go,” one local fan told the BBC earlier this week. Sol, a 31-year-old New York resident, added, “I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this before because in 1999 I was 4 years old. I’m just trying to soak it all in.” No Knicks fan has watched their team lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in their lifetime – the franchise’s last championship win came all the way back in 1973.
With Wednesday’s win, the Knicks now hold a commanding 3-1 series lead, needing just one more victory to claim the historic title. Their first chance to close out the series will come this coming Saturday, when the team travels to San Antonio for Game 5. While the path to the trophy now runs through the Spurs’ home court, and San Antonio remains capable of pulling off a comeback of its own – the franchise could still claim the title if it wins three straight games – the night belonged to New York, in what will go down as one of the most memorable games in NBA history.