Sports
After epic comeback, Knicks head to San Antonio on brink of NBA title
Jun 10, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs now own the worst collapse in NBA Finals history, but they refuse to be counted out yet.
While the New York Knicks look to clinch their first NBA title since 1973, the Spurs aim to stay alive in the best-of-seven series when they host Game 5 on Saturday night.
New York holds a 3-1 lead after overcoming a 29-point deficit in Game 4 and notching a 107-106 victory over the crestfallen Spurs.
“The games that we’re losing have all been close games,” San Antonio point guard De’Aaron Fox said Friday. “We still have that belief that we have a chance to win. But we’re taking this one game at a time.
“We’re not looking at it as we need to win three games. We need to win tomorrow and then we give ourselves a chance to play another game.”
The Knicks won 105-95 and 105-104 in San Antonio to open the series. The Spurs recorded a 115-111 win in New York in Game 3 before the stunning meltdown Wednesday. The previous largest documented comeback in an NBA Finals game was 24 by the Boston Celtics over the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.
San Antonio led by 20 with 9:33 left in the game. Five minutes later, its lead was just four. New York finished off the comeback with OG Anunoby’s stellar tip-in with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Knicks coach Mike Brown is setting aside all the feel-good moments as his club endeavors to end the 53-year title drought. He rates trying to close out the Finals in a Game 5 at San Antonio as a tough chore.
“It’s going to be hard,” Brown said. “San Antonio’s a great team. They’re desperate. I still think they believe. It’s going to be hard for us.”
Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson hasn’t forgotten his team was down 29 in Game 4. Otherwise, he’s only looking ahead.
“I’ve always told myself when you wake up the next day, it’s time to turn the page,” Brunson said. “Yes, we won, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have a lot to learn. We didn’t play our best basketball. We still have a lot to revisit to make sure that we don’t really put ourselves in that position again.”
Brunson recorded 36 points and seven assists in Game 4 and has scored 30 points or more three times in the series.
Anunoby established career postseason bests of seven 3-pointers and 33 points to go with the tip-in that is already etched in Knicks’ lore.
“Everyone has been telling me how much it means, and obviously I can see how much it means,” Anunoby said. “It’s just really cool to be a part of it, and I’m very grateful.”
Victor Wembanyama recorded 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots but was just 9-of-25 shooting in Game 4. He has scored at least 24 points in each game but is shooting just 43.5% from the field in the series.
Only one team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA title. That was the LeBron James-led 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers who recovered to beat a Golden State Warriors’ squad that won 73 regular-season games.
Wembanyama insists San Antonio can equal that feat. After all, the Spurs had a chance to win each of the first four games.
“Harder than any other game before, by far, for sure,” Wembanyama said of shaking off the Game 4 loss. “I mean, now we’re over it. It’s the playoffs. There’s no time to regret things for too long.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson knows a big opportunity was missed as his club scored just 30 second-half points after pouring in 76 in the first half. But he refuses to get buried in what-if thinking.
“There’s no avoiding what’s happened,” Johnson said. “There’s no avoiding all four games have been winnable games. There’s no avoiding we’re down 3-1. There’s no avoiding ways that we could be better.
“There’s nobody that’s going to be harder on ourselves and accountable to ourselves than the people in the locker room and each other. That’s what helped us get to where we are, and how the group is built.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mike Brown Is One Win Away From the Ultimate NBA Redemption Story
After firing Tom Thibodeau following New York’s Eastern Conference Finals loss last year, many people turned their nose up when the Knicks replaced him with Mike Brown.
The Knicks had a lengthy search that was stonewalled when New York was rejected permission to interview Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch.
The result landed on Brown, who was fired mid-season by the Sacramento Kings in 2024.
Brown’s firing in Sacramento came one day after he blasted De’Aaron Fox for a boneheaded play. Fox’s error in Game 4 cost the San Antonio Spurs an opportunity to even the series at two games a piece – and proved Brown’s point from many seasons ago.
But his win against Fox isn’t the only thing that would be vindicated if the Knicks can win the championship this season. Brown has won four championships as an assistant coach, but doesn’t have a ring of his own as a head coach.
His journey began with a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005. Brown lost the 2007 NBA Finals, where the Cavs were overmatched by a better Spurs team. Now, more than two decades later, Brown is one win away from beating that same franchise to win his first championship as a head coach.
After being fired by the Cavs in 2010 as owner Dan Gilbert tried to lure LeBron James back to Cleveland, Brown spent two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers as Phil Jackson’s successor. He dealt with a shortened season due to the lockout and then had to deal with the headache of trying to make washed up Steve Nash and Dwight Howard work alongside Kobe Bryant.
Naturally, that gig didn’t last long.
Gilbert admitted firing Brown the first time was a “mistake” and the Cavs hired him again in 2013. But that season was the first time in Brown’s career that he posted a losing record, and reported infighting in the locker room caused Gilbert to fire him again. Brown already conquered revenge on Cleveland by sweeping the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brown spent two seasons away from the NBA before joining Steve Kerr’s staff with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach from 2016-2022. That was one of the most dominant stretches in NBA history and led Brown to getting hired by the Kings, which resulted in Sacramento’s first postseason appearance since 2006.
Brown has won everywhere he’s gone. But over the course of two decades, it’s never come all the way together for the 56-year-old head coach. Now, he needs to coach his way to one more win in New York’s next three attempts to deliver the Knicks their first championship in 53 years.
Sports
Ghana player, facing rape charges, denied entry to Canada
Oct 14, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey (5) dribbles against Mexico during the first half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will miss next week’s World Cup opener against Panama after being denied entry into Canada.
The Canadian government denied a visa application for Partey, 32, who is awaiting trial in England on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault. The former Arsenal star has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Ghana’s opening match in Group L is Wednesday against Panama in Toronto.
A statement from FIFA confirmed Friday that Partey will not be allowed to cross the Canadian border with his team, whose World Cup base camp is in Providence, R.I.
“FIFA can confirm that player Thomas Partey will be unable to travel from Ghana’s team base camp in Boston, USA, to Canada for their first match against Panama on Wednesday, 17 June, as his visa application has been refused by the Canadian government,” read the statement obtained by The Athletic.
“FIFA is not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas. As with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and is admitted into the country.”
Partey, who currently plays for Spain’s Villarreal, has scored 16 goals in 58 career caps for Ghana, including three goals during the 2026 World Cup qualifying process.
Partey presumably will rejoin Ghana for group-stage matches in the U.S. against England on June 23 in Foxborough, Mass., and against Croatia on June 27 in Philadelphia.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston pace Fever against lowly Sun
Jun 8, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Indiana Fever center-forward Aliyah Boston (7) celebrates a play with guard Caitlin Clark (22) and guard Sophie Cunningham (8) against the Washington Mystics during the first quarter at CareFirst Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images The chemistry between Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston was on full display Thursday night in an overtime game when the Indiana Fever massively needed the production.
The duo hopes to contribute to another win Saturday night when Indiana visits the league-worst Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Conn.
Indiana (7-5, 3-1 Commissioner’s Cup) is attempting to win three straight for the second time. The Fever also won three straight from May 17-22 before dropping three of four from May 28-June 6.
Indiana is coming off a pair of single-digit victories at Washington and at home against Chicago. In a 114-106 overtime win over Chicago, Boston totaled a career-high 34 points and 12 rebounds while Clark compiled 32, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Boston was 13 of 26 from the floor after not attempting more than 15 shots in Indiana’s first 10 games. Clark tied her season high for points by hitting 15 free throws without a miss.
The duo also teamed up for 12 of Indiana’s 16 points in overtime and eight of Clark’s assists were to Boston. They became the first teammates to have 30-point double-doubles in the same game.
“I feel like I always know where Aliyah is,” Clark said after her seventh career 30-point game. “I think we got a little bit of telepathy now.”
The Sun (2-12, 0-4 CC) have been outscored by 34 points in their four-game skid since earning an 84-81 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on May 30.
After narrow defeats to Chicago and New York, the Sun lost a 14-point, third-quarter lead and took a 106-102 loss at the expansion Toronto Tempo on Wednesday. It was the Sun’s six loss by single digits and third time they allowed at least 100 points.
The Sun are hoping to see another big game from Leila Lacan, who scored 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Lacan enjoyed her big game after shooting 29.5% (13-of-44) in her first four games back from international commitments.
Lacan’s big night occurred as Brittney Griner (strained left rib) and Aneesah Morrow (strained left leg) sat out for the second straight game. Aaliyah Edwards started both games for Morrow and scored 24 while Olivia Nelson-Ododa contributed 13 rebounds in place of Griner.
“I think the energy that we came out with to start the game and honestly to fight all the way through 40 minutes, 45 minutes, we just got to continue to put our best foot forward,” Sun rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker said.
–Field Level Media
Mike Brown Is One Win Away From the Ultimate NBA Redemption Story
Ghana player, facing rape charges, denied entry to Canada
