This game is taking place in front of a sold-out crowd in Madison Square Garden as well.
When the Knicks won both games 1 and 2, people were taken aback because the Spurs were such heavy favorites. People like myself were thinking that we simply had it all wrong which seemed very surprising considering we have around 100 games of history to compare things to. The Knicks didn't easily win either of the games and game 3 in New York was a hard fought victory as well.
Here we are in game 4 though, one that the Knicks had really hoped they would be celebrating an overall championship after its conclusion, and it looks damn near certain that the Spurs are going to easily win this one.
As expected, Wemby is absolutely crucial in this, and likely every other game that he participates in. He currently has 19 points 3 of which came from a hard foul on him from 3-point range. If you don't know much about basketball, fouls from 3-point range are rare, and considered especially stupid considering 3-pointers are lower percentage shots anyway. Wemby made all 3 of his free throws.
We are now in the middle of the 3rd quarter and the Knicks find themselves at a near 30 point deficit.
Statistics have been getting broken left and right this year but I should point out that no team has EVER come back from 20 points down to win a Finals game, let alone 30. The record was nearly broken this year in game 3 though, when the Knicks were down by 14 and nearly came back to win. The record for the largest deficit ever overcome was 17 points done by none other than the New York Knicks in 1970 vs. the LA Lakers.
Another very interesting piece of what is going on right now is that throughout NBA Finals history, the team playing on their home court has won around 70% of the time yet here we are with the Spurs losing both their home games and now it appears almost certain that the Knicks are going to lose both of their games.
The home court advantage doesn't seem to apply in this series, but now we will return to San Antonio for game 5 and then come back to New York for game 6. In all likelihood, the teams will return to San Antonio tied at 2 games each.
While I don't dislike them as much as I do Philadelphia, New York fans are normally a close 2nd for most despicable in professional sports and this has already been on full display after their loss in game 3 just a few days ago.
21 people were arrested outside the stadium for fights with Spurs fans and these fights could have been initiated by either side but my money goes on the Knicks fans being the aggressors. Also, a permit was withdrawn for a "watch party" that was meant to take place outside of the stadium for people who couldn't afford that absurdly priced tickets to get inside. Also, increased security was initially blamed of the fact that Donald Trump attended game 3, but now that he is not at this game the same level of security exists including a sort of "no go zone" around the stadium in effect from 4pm onwards. I don't think a lot of this would be necessary if the fans could just behave themselves but while NY fans aren't as bad as Philly, they are damn close.
I don't have a problem with the Knicks or really any other team in the NBA but when the fans start to have a reputation for senselessly beating up other fans, you have now earned my disdain.
Just in the time that I have been writing this the Knicks have reduced the Spurs' lead to 18 and while I am not paying total attention, the Spurs can afford to give up a few points. I can only imagine that the Knicks are expending a lot more energy attempting to regain the lead, which is unlikely, and even though these are the best players in the world, it takes a lot of power to so much as attempt this sort of turn around.
It would be something pretty damn amazing if they did pull it off but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Unless the fix is in, it is nigh on impossible to make up a near 30 point deficit.
The updates keep saying things like "chipping away" at a lead or something like that but honestly, when you start the 1st half with such a dominant performance by one of the teams, it would take a miracle to make that up. Or Wemby getting injured.
it is all but guaranteed at this point that the Spurs are going to win. This should make the fans back in San Antone very pleased. If I was a Spurs fan leaving this game I would be very concerned for my well-being getting to my hotel. I am sure there will be plenty of violence afterwards unfortunately.
