De Aaron Fox’s Layup Choice Costs Spurs 107-106 in Game 4

de aaron fox chose the layup, and OG Anunoby erased it. The late sequence ended with a block and a game-winning putback in the San Antonio Spurs’ 107-106 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 on Wednesday, leaving San Antonio down 3-1 in the NBA Finals.

Fox Picks the Break

said he read the play one way. “I just thought I’d be able to outrun him.” He added, “That’s it.” His choice was simple: “Try to get a layup, get up three and force them to need a 3,” and he closed the explanation with, “OG made a good block.”

The sequence turned on speed, contact and timing. Fox had tipped the ball to himself before trying to finish the break, and Anunoby bumped him as he ran by. said he lost some speed at the start of the sprint, while Anunoby was running the wrong way when the play began.

Anunoby’s Block in Game 4

Anunoby’s block came in the late stages of Game 4 and set up his own game-winning putback. The Spurs never recovered from that swing, and the final margin settled at one point after Wednesday’s finish.

Victor Wembanyama also missed two free throws with 1 minute, 47 seconds left while the Spurs led by one. That left San Antonio needing a clean stop and one more possession to protect the lead, but the ending instead flipped to New York.

Spurs Trail 3-1

The loss pushed the Spurs into a 3-1 hole in the Finals. That is the same deficit only the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers had erased in the Finals, which leaves San Antonio chasing a rare escape rather than a routine rebound.

Fox’s own health sits in the background of the series too. He was slowed last month by a high ankle sprain that he reinjured in the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that makes every late sprint and every burst to the rim part of a larger calculation for the Spurs as they try to stay alive.