OG Anunoby rises to challenge to hit 'most iconic shot' in Knicks history for Game 4 win
· Yahoo Sports
The Spurs didn’t guard the Knicks' inbounder as they were looking to avoid blowing a 27-point second-half lead and defend their one-point advantage with 5.7 seconds remaining in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
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In fact, San Antonio never laid eyes on OG Anunoby after he tossed the ball to Jalen Brunson and never put a body in front of him, allowing him to ghost down the lane and out-jump two defenders to tip in the game-deciding bucket with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Knicks a 107-106 victory and a commanding 3-1 series lead.
“He got a pretty good look,” Anunoby said of Brunson’s long three-point jumper. “And I just went and crashed.”
And that crashing of the basket was something Knicks head coach Mike Brown emphasized to Anunoby before the game.
“I challenged a lot of our guys today, and OG was one of the guys I challenged,” Brown said after the improbable comeback win.
“I told OG – as big, as strong, as athletic as he is – he's got to be a monster on the offensive glass tonight,” the head coach continued. “I don't know if there was a play bigger than any other play in the history of Knicks basketball. That was a huge offensive rebound, huge offensive rebound.
“He took on the challenge, and he went out and won the game for us, doing exactly what I called him out for during shootaround today.”
Why the emphasis on offensive rebounding? Perhaps because Anunoby, who averaged 1.3 offensive boards per game in the regular season and 1.2 per game in the previous rounds of the playoffs, had zero in the first three games of the NBA Finals.
With an outstretched arm and a free run down the lane, Anunoby got his first offensive rebound of the series 47 minutes and 58 seconds into Game 4.
“Right hand of God,” Karl-Anthony Towns said.
"This whole playoff run he’s been amazing,” Josh Hart said, “and he’s a winning player, and he went and made a winning play.”
When San Antonio head coach Mitch Johnson was asked if he saw the tip-in as a great play by Anunoby or a defensive breakdown, he answered in one word: "Both."
The basket – making him 7-for-9 in the second half – gave him 33 points for the night on 10-for-15 shooting (7-for-9 from three) with four rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block, which came on the previous possession as he stufffed Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox right at the basket.
"He gave us a chance to win, and that's all you can ask for from the best two-way player in the NBA,” Towns said.
"OG being OG, just made a play," Brunson said.
With New York now one win away from ending a 53-year title drought, Anunoby’s tip is certainly going to be remembered forever.
“How he had to control it and tip it in, that has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball,” Brown said. “It was just unbelievable.”
Of course, the unflappable Anunoby was nonchalant about it.
“It feels cool, everyone is pretty excited, I’m excited, too,” he said before allowing himself a wide smile and nervous laugh. “We’re all excited, we’re enjoying it right now, but we’re just focused on the next game.”