RALEIGH, N.C. — Not many of the Vegas Golden Knights stayed up past midnight EST to watch the New York Knicks pull off the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.
Coach John Tortorella did watch. He almost didn’t make it.
“I wanted to go to bed,” Tortorella said. “But when they got it down to 15, you knew something stupid was going to happen.”
The Knicks pulled off an all-time stunner Wednesday in Madison Square Garden, rallying from 29 points down in the second half to knock off the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.
Forward OG Anunoby immortalized himself in New York lore with the game-winning put-back with 1.2 seconds remaining.
The Knicks are one win away from their first NBA title since 1973. That alone is reason for it being the most viewed NBA Finals since Michael Jordan won his sixth championship with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.
But the games have provided immaculate drama. The Knicks rallied from double digits down in the second half to win Game 1. San Antonio almost pulled off a 14-point rally with six minutes remaining, but lost 105-104.
The Knicks’ comeback in Game 3 fell short in a 115-111 loss. San Antonio was 17 minutes away from bringing a tied series back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday.
Sound familiar?
“I’m basically saying, the same stupid stuff is happening in our series,” Tortorella said.
The Stanley Cup Final has produced an all-time great series with multi-goal comebacks in every game. Two games have been decided in overtime. Each team has split one game at home and one on the road.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals drew 23.8 million viewers, the highest-rated Game 3 since Jordan’s Bulls played the Utah Jazz 28 years ago.
Meanwhile, Game 3 of the Cup Final peaked — the thrilling 5-4 double overtime win at T-Mobile Arena that saw Carolina rally from four goals down in the third — at 6.1 million viewers.
It’s the highest-rated Game 3 in the NHL’s championship series since Detroit and Carolina played in 2002.
The numbers are vastly different, but ESPN is reaping the benefits of both series providing immaculate theater.
The ending between the Spurs and Knicks will be remembered for Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox going for a layup in the final seconds, rather than running the clock out and forcing New York to foul.
Anunoby blocked Fox’s layup attempt, which set the stage for his thrilling game-winner.
Tortorella was asked as he sees that happening as a coach, what goes through his mind when a player makes a decision like that.
“I think the intensity, just the moment that’s going on in the finals now, they’re human beings. It just overcomes you sometimes to do some stupid things,” Tortorella said.
“I don’t have an answer. Who can explain some of the things that’s gone on in this series? One thing as a coach you look for: As long as they care, as long as they’re trying, that’s all you can ask. And there will be some crazy things that go along with it.”
Did the players watch the game?
“No,” center Jack Eichel said.
“No, I was asleep,” defenseman Shea Theodore said.
“I turned it off when it was, like, 80-30 or something,” defenseman Dylan Coghlan said.
Ratings keep climbing
The 5-3 win for Carolina in Game 4 continued the ratings boom in this series.
ESPN announced Thursday that Tuesday drew an average of 5.3 million viewers. It was the most-viewed Game 4 in the Cup Final since 2017 when the Nashville Predators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 to tie the series 2-2.
Viewership saw a 104 percent increase compared to last year’s Game 4 between Edmonton and Florida.
The night peaked at 6.4 million viewers by the third period (from 7:30-7:45 p.m.).
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
