Anunoby Leads Finals Mvp Race After Game 4 Comeback
OG Anunoby has moved to the front of the finals mvp race after the Knicks’ Game 4 comeback in the 2026 NBA Finals. New York’s biggest comeback in finals history at Madison Square Garden left Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns still alive, but the stretch sequence from Anunoby now sits at the center of the debate.
Anunoby’s Game 4 swing
Nick Friedell put it plainly: “I would go with OG Anunoby.” He added, “His plays down the stretch in Game 4 will be remembered forever if the Knicks win, and he has been the most solid two-way performer for the group throughout this series.”
That view has support across the roundtable. Jay King said, “It’s up in the air right now, but I would choose Anunoby,” while also calling him consistent through four games and great in two of them. King pointed to “Anunoby's game-saving block against De'Aaron Fox” and said it was “one of several swats he racked up in transition.”
Brunson and Towns in the mix
Brunson still has a real path. Friedell said, “If Jalen Brunson has a big night, he will be the MVP.” Eric Koreen pushed the same way, saying, “At the risk of relitigating the Steph Curry-Andre Iguodala debate of 2015, I think it’s Anunoby by a hair over Brunson.” He also said Brunson “stirs the drink for the Knicks offense,” and that Anunoby has the best true-shooting percentage in an extended playoff run ever.
Tony Jones kept Towns in the conversation too, but his case depends on the rest of the series. “I think it should be Anunoby, with Brunson heavily in the conversation,” Jones said. On Towns, he added, “Towns disappeared in Game 3 and got into foul trouble in the first half of Game 4.” Jay King placed Towns second on his board, noting that the Knicks are plus-40 with him on the floor.
Game 5 and the title line
The stakes are simpler now. The Knicks entered Game 5 on the brink of snapping a 53-year title drought, and only one team has ever won the title after falling behind 3-1 in the finals: LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers a decade ago.
That leaves the award race tied to the same stretch that turned Game 4. Anunoby’s final-second sequence changed the frame of the discussion, and if New York closes the series, the strongest case may belong to the player who kept showing up at both ends when the Knicks needed one more possession.
