The Spurs Led by 29. Then They Scored 30 in a Half. The Knicks Pulled Off the Biggest Comeback in Finals History.

For 24 minutes on June 10, the San Antonio Spurs looked like a coronation. They buried a Finals-record 14 three-pointers in the first half, shot nearly 60 percent from the floor, and walked into the Madison Square Garden tunnel at halftime up 76–49. Early in the third quarter the lead reached 29. On the road, in a building that had waited 53 years for a title, it felt over.

It was not over. The Spurs scored just 30 points in the entire second half — 8-for-39 from the field, 3-for-17 from three — while the New York Knicks outscored them 58–30 after the break. With 1.2 seconds left and the game tied, OG Anunobytipped in a missed Jalen Brunson three to win it 107–106.

It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, surpassing the Boston Celtics’ 24-point rally over the Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals. The Knicks lead the series 3–1 and are one win from their first championship since 1973. For the Spurs, it is the worst collapse a Finals team has ever authored.

• 29 points — the Spurs' peak lead, early in the third quarter — now the largest deficit ever overcome in an NBA Finals game, breaking the 2008 Celtics' 24 · Source: NBA.com, CNN
• 76 → 30 — Spurs points by half: 76 in the first (14 threes, a Finals record; ~60% FG), then just 30 in the second on 8-of-39 shooting · Source: NBA.com, Yahoo Sports
• 58–30 — the Knicks' second-half scoring edge — the engine of the comeback · Source: CBS Sports
• 1.2 seconds — left when OG Anunoby tipped in Brunson's miss for the 107–106 win; Anunoby finished with a playoff career-high 33 points (7-of-9 from three) · Source: ESPN, NBA.com
• 1973 — the last time the Knicks won an NBA title — they now lead 3-1 and can clinch in Game 5 · Source: CBS Sports

San Antonio did not just lead — it humiliated. The Spurs hit 14 first-half three-pointers, the most any team has made in a half in Finals history, breaking Cleveland’s record of 13 set in Game 4 of the 2017 Finals. They shot roughly 60 percent from the field and put up 76 points before intermission. Victor Wembanyama was a problem at both ends, on his way to 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. The Garden was stunned into silence.

The trouble with a half that good is that it is almost impossible to repeat. A team shooting 14-for-26 from deep is not playing sustainable basketball; it is playing a hot hand. When the hand cooled, San Antonio had no other gear to shift into — and the Knicks, down 27 at the break, had nothing left to lose.

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The collapse was total. After halftime the Spurs shot 8-of-39 from the floor (20.5 percent) and 3-of-17 from three, scoring 30 points across two quarters. Wembanyama, dominant early, went 3-of-14 in the second half and missed two clutch free throws down the stretch. The threes that had rained in the first half clanged off the rim; the ball movement that produced them dried up.

On the Knicks’ side, the turning point was a coaching decision. With New York down 19 midway through the third, head coach Mike Brown — hired last July to replace Tom Thibodeau, and a two-time NBA Coach of the Year — benched a cold Mikal Bridges and paired Brunson with backup guard Jose Alvarado. Alvarado scored 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting, including a dagger three, and his pressure defense helped speed the Spurs into the turnovers and bad shots that fueled a 58–30 second-half avalanche.

“We got away from playing the brand of basketball that got us the lead.”

Mitch Johnson · San Antonio Spurs head coach · postgame · June 10, 2026

The finish belonged to OG Anunoby. With the Knicks needing a stop in the final fifteen seconds, he blocked De’Aaron Fox’s driving layup to keep the game tied. New York pushed the other way; Brunson rose for a long three that bounced off the rim — and Anunoby, out-jumping two Spurs, tipped it home with 1.2 secondsremaining for a 107–106 lead. He finished with a playoff career-high 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 7-of-9 from three.

Brunson led all scorers with 36 points and 7 assists; Karl-Anthony Towns, hampered by early foul trouble, came up big late and, per Yahoo Sports, got a fingertip on the Spurs’ final inbound to help run out the clock. The Garden, silent at halftime, emptied into the New York night having watched the most improbable comeback in the championship round’s 80-year history.

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A 29-point comeback is, by definition, the worst blown lead in Finals history. The previous record belonged to the 2008 Boston Celtics, who erased a 24-point deficit against the Lakers in Game 4 of that series on their way to a title. Across all of NBA playoff history — not just the Finals — the record for the largest comeback still belongs to the Los Angeles Clippers, who came back from 31 points downagainst the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 first round. San Antonio’s collapse now sits beside those as the standard for how completely a game can turn.

What separates this one is the stage. The 2019 Clippers comeback was a first-round game between a 48-win team and a dynasty resting on cruise control. This was the Finals, with a championship in the balance, against a team that had just set a Finals record for first-half shooting. To lead by 29 in that setting and lose is the kind of result that follows a franchise for a generation.

New York leads 3–1 and can close out the title in Game 5 on Saturday, June 13, at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. No team has ever come back from 3–1 down in the Finals to win — in 13 prior attempts, the team trailing 3–1 has lost every time. The Spurs are not just chasing a game; they are chasing history that has never been made, days after surrendering history that had never been made against them.

For Wembanyama and a young Spurs core, the season is not yet over, but the margin for error is gone. For the Knicks, a franchise whose title drought stretches back to the Nixon administration, the question has narrowed to a single win — and to whether a team that just proved it can come back from anything can also finish.

Comebacks like this are usually built on a single number, and here it is 30 — the points San Antonio managed in the second half after scoring 76 in the first. A team that hot is living on variance, and variance came due. The Knicks did their part: a coaching change at the right moment, a backup guard’s spark, a star’s career night, and a tip-in with the clock reading 1.2. But the headline the record book will keep is the Spurs’: 29 up, and beaten.

One win remains. If the Knicks get it in San Antonio, the largest comeback in Finals history will be remembered as the night a 53-year drought finally broke. If the Spurs somehow answer with three straight, it will be remembered as the night that set up the greatest series comeback the Finals has ever seen. Either way, Game 4 already belongs to the ages.

“That has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball.”

Mike Brown · New York Knicks head coach · postgame · June 10, 2026

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Last updated June 12, 2026