Karl-Anthony Towns did not hesitate when asked where OG Anunoby’s Game 4 tip-in might rank in New York sports history.
“Right hand of God,” Towns said. “Right hand of God. And can’t spell God without OG.”
Towns, who grew up in the New York area and was a Knicks fan as a kid, said the shot already belongs in the conversation with the city’s biggest sports moments. The Knicks are one win from the franchise’s first championship since 1973 after Anunoby’s putback lifted them past the Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 and gave them a 3-1 Finals lead.
“I think in New York moments, I mean it’s high up on the list in New York moments,” Towns said. “I think of it’s almost like I think of Derek Jeter hitting the home run to right field. I think of stuff like that. It just scrapes the wall, gets over. I think of a lot of moments. I think of like Plaxico Burress catching the ball. I think of David Tyree catching the ball again for Eli Manning.”
He added that the image could linger for a long time in the city.
“There’s a lot,” Towns said. “There’s a lot of it’s going to be up there with some of the greatest moments in New York sports history.”
Still, Towns said the Knicks are not treating Game 4 as a finish line. For all the emotion around the comeback, he said the team’s edge has been its ability to keep a ruthless focus on the next game.
“We spoke about it multiple times,” Towns said. “You know we got to approach every game like it’s 0-0 we got to have that kind of desperation it is to win game one of a playoff series we got to go in there with the understanding and no comfortability.”
That sense of urgency has been central to New York’s run through the postseason, and Towns said it has to remain there with the series one win away from ending.
“Just really be desperate execute at a high level game plan discipline has to be at another level,” he said. “I’ve said it multiple times, I’ll say it again. You know, the hardest game to win is the one that ends someone’s season.”
Towns has also grown into a playmaking role during the playoffs, a responsibility he said helps create an offense that keeps defenses guessing.
“I think for me it’s imperative to make the defense have to shift and make them have to continuously think,” he said. “If you can add the mental component as well and have people thinking the whole game, it even makes them more tired and allows for more opportunities for us to get better looks.”
He said that style is about more than his own numbers.
“I’ve always loved passing,” Towns said. “It’s always one of my greatest joys is giving my teammates an assist and allowing them to see them succeed is truly for me better than hitting a great shot.”
Towns also praised the way Knicks fans have followed the team everywhere, saying the support has become an advantage.
“It was a wild experience to be on a road game and feel like it was a home game,” he said. “Our Knicks fans are amazing. Our fans really bring it every single game regardless of where it’s at.”
He said that loyalty has become part of the team’s identity.
“Our fans truly is our secret weapon,” Towns said.
That same idea, he said, applies to the locker room. Towns repeatedly described the Knicks as a family and said that connection has carried them through pressure moments.
“We got to be at our best version tomorrow,” he said. “We all we got and we all we need.”
The Knicks now have three chances to close out the Spurs. For Towns, the shot by Anunoby was unforgettable, but he made the larger point clear: one historic moment does not finish the job.
“We got to solidify it with one more win,” Towns said.
