The Spurs just lost 106-107 to the Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals despite leading the game by 29 points at the beginning of the third quarter. The Knicks’ resilience was capped off with clutch plays from OG Anunoby on both ends of the floor.
Even though the spotlight remains on his offensive tip into the basket with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to take the lead, just seconds before that, he also blocked De’Aaron Fox, who had a wide-open layup with nearly 10 seconds left in the game for the Spurs to take a three-point lead if he made it.
DE’AARON FOX?! 😅 pic.twitter.com/038SSqjh5n
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 11, 2026
Instead of dribbling the clock out as the Spurs had the lead, Fox’s error cost the Spurs at a crucial point in Game 4. Following the game, Charles Barkley sat courtside with the crew of Inside the NBA and blasted the Spurs for their mistakes down the stretch, which included Fox’s crucial blunder.
“We saw the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization. We saw they had a 25-point lead, took eight straight threes. Like they thought… that was some of the most mismanaged and stupid basketball,” Barkley said as he began tearing into the Spurs.
“Hey, when you blow a 29-point lead, the other team has to help you. The San Antonio Spurs helped the New York Knicks win this game by doing some of the stupid a– stuff I’ve ever seen on the basketball court. When they shot when they had a 25-point lead, they shot eight threes in a row.”
“Never even came close to using any time on the clock. And you’re like, ‘This game ain’t over yet.’ Then the Spurs and DeAndre Fox, whatever. Calling him a– DeAndre tonight.”
“That was a dumba– play. He did not have to shoot that ball. They could have just gotten fouled. There was no reason for him to shoot that ball,” Barkley concluded.
Not only Barkley but other former players like the NBA legend Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas also addressed Fox’s mistake on social media.
“We just watched the Knicks make the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history! The first and second halves were two completely different stories – the Spurs dominated in the first half and the Knicks stormed back in the second. Jalen Brunson put the team on his back with his 36-point performance, but OG Anunoby was the true hero tonight, finishing with 33 points AND the game-winning tip-in!” wrote Johnson on X.
“De’Aaron Fox made a huge mistake when he got the ball with seconds left in the fourth and decided to go for a layup instead of dribbling the ball out to be fouled. I think the Spurs have another win in them, and the Series will stretch out to 6 or 7 games, but I still see the Knicks winning it all,” he further added while referring to Fox’s mistake.
“Fox, come on, fam! Finish that or dribble it out,” wrote Thomas on X.
Subsequently, during the locker room media scrum, De’Aaron Fox addressed the play and revealed what was going on in his mind during that play.
“I just thought I’d be able to outrun him. That’s it,” Fox said initially. “I tried to get the layup to get up three, force them to need a three, and OG made a good block,” he further added.
Fox’s ineffective night ended with a potentially unforgettable mistake as he could have simply run the 24-second clock down with the ball at the time. He finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 6-16 from the field (37.5 FG%) and 4-9 from beyond the arc (44.5 3P%).
Unfortunately for the Spurs, instead of tying the series at 2-2, they are now headed home for Game 5 with a 3-1 deficit to climb out of, which only one team has done before in the league’s history (the 2016 Cavaliers).
For now, the approach is one game at a time for the Spurs if they hope to pull off an unlikely comeback from this position. Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday night in San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center. It will be interesting to see how the Spurs respond to this gut-wrenching loss in a must-win game.
