NBA Daily Digest: OG Takes Over the MVP Ladder, Fans Cross the Line, and Game 5 Awaits in San Antonio
On the off-day between Games 4 and 5, OG Anunoby jumps to No. 1 on NBA.com's Finals MVP ladder after his historic put-back tip-in. Charles Barkley called the Spurs the 'dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization.' Plus: fan violence outside the Spurs' hotel, Jose Alvarado's crunch-time impact, and a full preview of Saturday's Game 5 in San Antonio (8:30 PM ET, ABC).
The Knicks had Wednesday night. Now comes the quieter, harder part.
There are no games Thursday. Game 5 is Saturday in San Antonio (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo), and New York is three wins into a 4-1 series that only a week ago felt like it might need seven games to settle. The reaction to Game 4's 29-point comeback — on television, on social media, outside a midtown hotel — has been as loud as anything that happened inside Madison Square Garden. Here's what broke while the league took a breath.
OG Anunoby jumps to No. 1 on the Finals MVP ladder
NBA.com's Shaun Powell updated his Finals MVP Ladder on Thursday morning, and it now looks like this: 1
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| Rank | Player | Team | Series stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OG Anunoby, SF | New York Knicks | 23.8 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.3 apg |
| 2 | Karl-Anthony Towns, C | New York Knicks | 15.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.8 apg |
| 3 | Victor Wembanyama, C | San Antonio Spurs | 27.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.3 bpg |
| 4 | Jalen Brunson, PG | New York Knicks | 29.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.0 apg |
| 5 | Dylan Harper, SG | San Antonio Spurs | 16.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.8 apg |
Anunoby passed Brunson and Towns on the strength of 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting in Game 4, capped by a put-back tip-in off Brunson's front-rim miss with 1.2 seconds left. He has now made 15 three-pointers this series — more than Towns and Brunson combined (14). He shot 55 percent from deep across four games.
"He gave us a chance to win, and that's all you could ask for from the best two-way player in the NBA," Towns said after the game.
The block mattered as much as the shot. Twelve seconds before the tip-in, Anunoby got a piece of De'Aaron Fox's layup attempt — a running lay-in that, had it gone, would have put San Antonio up two with the clock nearly gone. Instead, the Knicks got the ball back, and Brunson drove.
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Rookie Dylan Harper entered the top five for the first time. The 20-year-old San Antonio guard (SF/SG) posted 21 points in Game 4, making him the youngest player to score 20-plus in a Finals game. Harper has scored in double figures in every Finals contest and leads all guards in rebounding rate this series.1
Inside the NBA unloads on San Antonio
Charles Barkley did not let the Spurs off the hook on TNT's postgame show Wednesday night. 2
"We saw the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization. That was some of the most mismanaged, stupid basketball. 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(est) stuff I've seen on a basketball court." — Charles Barkley, Inside the NBA
Shaquille O'Neal was in agreement: "They played terrible basketball. They got comfortable with the lead and talking about going back to San Antonio and just didn't play smart."
The arithmetic behind the criticism: San Antonio shot 14-for-26 from three in the first half — an NBA Finals record — but went 3-for-17 from deep in the second half. The Spurs missed nine consecutive threes in the third quarter as the Knicks turned a 27-point deficit into a one-possession game.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson gave no pushback on the performance: "76 points one half and 30 — that's a stark difference in a lot of surface-level things. You don't get to peel too many layers and dig too deep to find some differences."
Knicks fans throw objects at Wembanyama outside team hotel
The celebration took a turn after the final buzzer. 3
Video circulating on social media Thursday shows a crowd of Knicks fans outside the Spurs' midtown hotel as San Antonio's players returned after Wednesday's loss. At least two projectiles are visible being thrown in the direction of Wembanyama, who walked in without reacting. Laser pointers also appear in a second angle of the footage.
It is the second consecutive Finals game in New York that ended with reported fan violence. After Game 3 — a Spurs win — multiple videos showed Spurs fans attacked on the streets, and 21 people were arrested after a Bryant Park watch party devolved. Wembanyama had been asked about those incidents before Game 4:
"My thoughts, of course, is that we can't forget it's a game. We're just playing a game out there. And I am all for passion, but, to the respect of each other, it's unacceptable." — Victor Wembanyama 3
The league has not commented publicly on the hotel incident as of Thursday morning.
Jose Alvarado's 16 minutes changed the game
One of the quieter storylines from Game 4: Jose Alvarado, the Knicks reserve guard, played 16 minutes off the bench and finished with 8 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds — connecting on 3-of-4 from the field and posting a +11. He spent nearly 10 of those minutes in the fourth quarter specifically. 4
When Alvarado entered, the Knicks were still down by a wide margin. His speed and aggressiveness in the pick-and-roll appeared to rattle San Antonio's defensive rotations, and the three assists he recorded in crunch time all came as New York whittled the lead to single digits. The Spurs outscored the Knicks by 17 points in the fourth quarter when Alvarado was on the floor.5
Looking ahead to Game 5
The series shifts to San Antonio's Frost Bank Center for the first time since Game 3's split.
| Game | Date | Location | TV | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 5 | Sat, June 13 | Frost Bank Center, San Antonio | ABC / fubo | 8:30 PM |
| Game 6* | Tue, June 16 | Madison Square Garden, New York | ABC / fubo | 8:30 PM |
| Game 7* | Fri, June 19 | Frost Bank Center, San Antonio | ABC / fubo | 8:30 PM |
*If necessary.
Series result so far: New York leads 3-1 (Knicks won Games 1, 2, and 4; Spurs won Game 3). 6
A few things to watch Saturday:
- Wembanyama's flagrant tally. He is at three flagrant foul points. An additional flagrant 1 triggers an automatic one-game suspension under NBA rules. He picked up a Flagrant 1 for an elbow on Towns in Game 4.
- KAT's fourth-quarter role. Towns scored only 6 field-goal attempts across the first three Games in Q4. Mike Brown put him on the floor in crunch time in Game 4 and he held his own against Wemby defensively; his shot selection will be monitored.
- Road record. All four games this series have been won by the visiting team. The Knicks opened on the road and won Games 1 and 2. Game 5 is back in San Antonio.
- Spurs need a win. San Antonio's 53-year-old coach Mitch Johnson said simply: "They better be ready to play in two days and win."
Finals MVP odds (as of June 11, via FanDuel): Brunson -140 | Wembanyama +350 | Anunoby +400 | Towns +1900. 6
Injury and roster notes
Neither team has reported new injuries ahead of Game 5. For Game 4, the Knicks listed Mitchell Robinson (hand) as available — he played — while the Spurs were healthy. Miles McBride remains out for New York with an ankle issue. No formal Game 5 report has been published as of Thursday morning.
References
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- 4Knicks' Jose Alvarado showcases talent on national stage
sports.yahoo.com
- 5Starting 5: June 11, 2026
nba.com
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