The San Antonio Spurs’ Game 4 collapse against the New York Knicks was shocking enough in real time. But one shocking statistic from the loss puts the magnitude of their NBA Finals choke job into even sharper focus.
After appearing firmly in control and on the verge of leveling the series, San Antonio watched history slip away — and the numbers reveal just how extraordinary the collapse truly was.
As noted by OptaSTATS, the Spurs scored 76 points in the first half of Game 4 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Then they scored a mere 30 in the entire 24 minutes of the second half. No team in NBA history has ever paired a 76-point-or-greater first half with a 30-point-or-fewer second half in the same game. Not in the Finals. Not in the playoffs. Not in the regular season. Never. But San Antonio somehow managed that dubious feat under the bright lights of the Finals at Madison Square Garden.
San Antonio shot 59.6 percent from the field in the first half and set a Finals record with 14 three-pointers in those first two quarters. Then they ran headlong into a wall. The Spurs went 8-for-39 from the field in the second half — a paltry 20.5 percent clip — and made just 3 of 17 attempts from three. Incredibly, they finished with more turnovers (9) than made field goals (8) over the final 24 minutes.
The Knicks outscored the Spurs 58-30 in the second half, according to ESPN. The final score: New York 107, San Antonio 106.
Spurs’ Historic Collapse Rewrote Finals Records
The 29-point advantage San Antonio held with about 9:40 to go in the third quarter, just before the collapse began, is now the largest deficit to be erased in NBA Finals history, according to NBA.com. The previous mark was 24 points, set by the Boston Celtics, who came back to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals.
The 46-point drop from first half to second half by San Antonio also ties the largest such swing recorded in playoff games over the past 70 years, according to Elias Sports Bureau data cited in postgame reports.
Low-scoring halves are a fact of life in the NBA. The Utah Jazz managed just 23 second-half points in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. The Orlando Magic posted 19 in a half during the 2026 playoffs. But those collapses came without a 76-point first half right beforehand.
Spurs Now Face Historically Steep Climb
Game 4 left the Spurs trailing the New York Knicks 3-1. Of the 38 Finals series in which a team has held a 3-1 lead, the team in front has closed it out 37 times — a 97.4 percent rate, according to Land of Basketball stats.
Only one team in Finals history has ever come back from down 3-1 to win. The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in seven games, with the LeBron James-led Cavs sealing it with a road victory in Game 7 in Oakland, according to NBC Philadelphia.
In all 15 instances of a 3-1 comeback in NBA playoff history, the Finals have seen exactly one. That is the history San Antonio must now overcome.
The Spurs host Game 5 Saturday facing elimination. The historical record gives them roughly a 2.6 percent chance. One team in 38 has ever done it in the Finals.
How Bad Was the Spurs’ NBA Finals Choke Job? One Stat Says Everything