The New York Knicks did not just win Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. They changed the whole emotional temperature of the NBA Finals in one night.
A 29-point San Antonio Spurs lead had the series tilting back toward Texas, with New York staring at a tied matchup and a brutal missed chance to hold homecourt. Instead, the Knicks dragged themselves back.
After days of off-court narratives around the Finals, the basketball finally became loud enough to drown everything else out, and Stephen A. Smith ended the night explaining why the comeback felt bigger than another wild playoff escape.
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Speaking on ESPN after Game 4, Smith said: "I thought it was over. I thought the New York Knicks were going back to San Antonio tied 2-2 with their heads bowed, having relinquished homecourt advantage to the San Antonio Spurs.
"I thought they were done for the night and possibly for the series."
That was not an unreasonable feeling. The Spurs were in full control before New York started scratching back, and Game 4 looked ready to become the night San Antonio made this a best-of-three series again.
He said: "And then they kept scratching and clawing and coming back. I saw Jalen Brunson defer and KAT wasn't making shots, so he said, 'The hell with it. I'm going to do it.' And he dropped 36.
"I saw OG Anunoby saying, 'Yo, I got your back. Everybody else might not be here for you offensively, but I'm going to be.' I saw Alvarado come off the bench and give them a spark plug."
Smith also spoke about De'Aaron Fox's clumsy error late on, as the Spurs guard attacked the rim instead of pulling the ball out and forcing a foul.
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But even while pointing at San Antonio's mistakes, Smith wanted to give the Knicks their credit. He said: "Two things can be true at once. And the Knicks deserve all the credit for every bit of what they did."
The Knicks are now one win from the championship, and Game 4 really made it feel like this series belongs to them.
