Нью-Йорк Никс НБА-гийн финалын түүхэн дэх хамгийн том эргэн ирэлтийг хийснээр 53 жилийн дараах анхны түрүүгээ авахад ганцхан хожил дутуу байна.
Сан-Антонио Спөрс цувралын тав дахь тоглолтод 5.5 онооны зөрүүтэйгээр фаворитоор нэрлэгдэж байгаа ч Никс цувралыг 3-1-ээр тэргүүлж байна. Спөрс эхний дөрвөн тоглолтын турш хоёр оронтой тооны зөрүүгээр тэргүүлж байсан ч сүүлийн мөчид хожил алдсаар байна. Лхагва гарагт болсон тоглолтод Никс 29 онооны зөрүүг арилгаж, дөрөвдүгээр үед 20 оноогоор хоцорч явснаа эргүүлж чадсан юм.
Эхний хагаст Спөрс гурван онооны шидэлтээр гайхалтай тоглолтыг үзүүлсэн ч удаах хагаст шидэлтийн хувь нь эрс муудсан. Эсрэгээрээ Никс багаараа 15-for-32 гурван онооны шидэлт амжилттай болгосны дотор Оу Жи Ануноби 33 оноо авч багаа манлайллаа. Карл-Энтони Таунс сүүлийн хоёр тоглолтод 11 болон 13 оноо авч, алдааны асуудалд орсноор тоглолтын идэвх нь суларсан байна.
Харин Жэйлен Брансон 36 оноо, 7 дамжуулалт өгч, финалын үнэ цэнтэй тоглогчийн төлөөх өрсөлдөөнд тэргүүлж эхэллээ. Спөрс талбайдаа хийх тоглолтод ялалт байгуулж цувралыг үргэлжлүүлэх даалгавартай байгаа ч тэдэнд аваргын төлөө өрсөлдөх боломж нь ердөө 20 хувьтай байна. Бямба гарагийн 8:30 цагт болох тоглолт цувралын хувь заяаг шийдэх эсэх нь анхаарал татаж байна.
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What can possibly follow that Game 4? The New York Knicks completed the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history and are now on the brink of the team’s first championship in 53 years, but will they be able to close the series out on the road?
The odds say the Spurs will bring the series back to Madison Square Garden. Knicks fans will take a title however it comes, but they’d probably prefer to win it at home. If you thought the ticket prices for Game 3 and 4 were crazy, a potential title-clinching Game 6 would blow that away. Will we get there?
Game 5: New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs
Knicks lead series 3-1
Time: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET
TV:ABC
Series odds:Knicks -500, Spurs +380
The sportsbooks aren’t backing off their view of these two teams. The Spurs are favored by 5.5 points for Game 5, similar to the spreads for the first two games in San Antonio.
The Spurs have held double-digit leads in all four games and are two final possessions away from having their own 3-1 lead in this series. The problem is the Knicks just keep coming back.
After Wednesday’s 29-point comeback, including 20 down in the fourth quarter, it’s going to be hard to overreact to any early (or even somewhat late) lead.No lead feels safe in the modern NBA, where teams can go from red-hot from 3-point range to ice-cold within a couple quarters. The Knicks’ live odds got as high as 22-1 during that stretch.
The way the first half went, it felt like the Spurs couldn’t miss. San Antonio was 14-for-26 from 3-point range in the first half, but just 3-for-17 in the second half. By the end of the game, it was the Knicks that had the hotter shooting night with a blistering 15-for-32 from beyond the arc. OG Anunoby somehow scored 33 points on 7-for-9 3-point shooting.
Lost in all the excitement of the comeback and the crucial plays that decided the final minute (just hold the ball, De’Aaron Fox!), was that Karl-Anthony Towns more or less disappeared in the two games in New York after playing the starring role in wins in San Antonio. Towns had only 11 points in Game 3 and 13 in Game 4, plagued by early foul trouble.
That has allowed for Jalen Brunson to become a stronger favorite to win NBA Finals MVP (-110). Brunson has had his own shooting struggles this series, but that was not the case on Wednesday. He had 36 points on 12-for-25 shooting and a game-high seven assists. Anunoby is +210 to win Finals MVP, with his memorable Game 4 carrying weight in the betting market for now.
Even with a 3-1 Knicks lead, the odds to win the series are leaving the door cracked open for a Spurs comeback. The Spurs have to show they can win at home first, but split in New York and very easily could have won both. The implied odds give San Antonio roughly a 20 percent chance of coming back. It’s hard to envision a Spurs comeback after the gut-punch of that Game 4 loss, but every game has gone down to the final couple of minutes.
