New York has waited more than half a century for another NBA title. On Wednesday night, that wait suddenly felt close to ending.
The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, coming back from 29 points down to complete the largest comeback in Finals history. The win gave New York a 3-1 lead in the series and left the team one victory away from its first championship since 1973.
For a franchise long associated with frustration, false dawns and loyal suffering, the comeback was more than a result. It became a citywide release.
A comeback for the history books
For much of the night, the game looked gone. San Antonio had stunned Madison Square Garden early, racing into a huge lead and going into half-time 76-49 ahead. The Spurs later stretched the advantage to 29 points, leaving the Knicks facing what seemed an impossible climb.
But New York refused to disappear. Jalen Brunson drove the comeback, while OG Anunoby delivered the defining moment. With 1.2 seconds left, Anunoby tipped in Brunson’s missed three-point attempt, giving the Knicks the lead and sending the Garden into chaos.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks had not only taken control of the Finals. They had rewritten the record book.
A celebrity night turns into a viral one
The drama inside Madison Square Garden quickly became a spectacle beyond basketball. Spike Lee, one of the Knicks’ most famous courtside supporters, was among those celebrating wildly, while the crowd also included several major names from music, film and television.
Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, Ben Stiller, Hailey Bieber, Mariska Hargitay and Jimmy Fallon were among the celebrities reported at Game 4, turning the night into a pop-culture moment as well as a sporting one.
Clips from inside the arena spread rapidly online: stunned courtside reactions, fans screaming in disbelief and the crowd moving from silence to delirium as the Knicks completed the comeback.
Trump, superstition and New York humour
The Finals have also carried their own online subplots. Donald Trump’s appearance at Game 3 had already become the subject of jokes and memes, after videos circulated online suggesting he had appeared to fall asleep during the game. Some Knicks fans even blamed his presence for bad luck after New York lost that night.
Game 4 gave the city a very different story to tell.
One viral fan clip captured the humour and confidence around the Knicks’ run. “My mayor is Muslim, my bagels are Jewish, my Christian is Dior, and the Knicks in three,” the fan said. The prediction did not survive the series, but the line did. As the Finals moved on, the punchline changed to “Knicks in four” and then, after the latest game, “Knicks in five”, becoming part of the city’s growing playoff folklore.
Celebrations spill into the streets
Outside Madison Square Garden, the reaction quickly moved from the arena to the streets. Fans poured into Manhattan, chanting, dancing and waving Knicks colours, while videos from bars, subway stations, airports and neighbourhoods across the city spread across social media.
The Empire State Building was lit in Knicks colours, adding to the sense that the comeback had become a citywide event. By the next morning, “Knicks in five” was no longer just a prediction. It had become the mood of New York.
The scale of the celebrations also brought tension. Local reports said large crowds gathered around the Garden, with police making dozens of detentions as officers tried to manage the scenes after the game.
One win from ending the wait
The Knicks have not won the NBA championship since 1973 and had not reached the Finals since 1999. That history is why Wednesday’s comeback felt so loaded.
This was not simply a late rally in a basketball game. It was a long-suffering franchise, in a city that rarely does quiet emotion, moving to within touching distance of the title it has chased for generations.
The series now shifts to San Antonio, where the Knicks will have the chance to finish the job. After Game 4, however, New York already has the moment it had been waiting for.
