History does not repeat itself often in sports. Yet at Madison Square Garden, it is beginning to rhyme.
As the New York Knicks moved within one victory of their first NBA championship since 1973, an uncanny historical parallel emerged from the opening four games of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
According to the NBA, each of the first four games of this year’s Finals has been within four points in the final minute of regulation. The last championship series to begin that way came in 1973, when the Knicks faced the Los Angeles Lakers.
That series ended with New York celebrating its most recent NBA title.
Now, 53 years later, the Knicks find themselves in a remarkably similar position.
Knicks Hold Same 3-1 Finals Lead as 1973 Team
GettyMembers of the Knicks’ last championship team—including Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley—gather at a New York event in this 1999 file photo. The 2026 Knicks are one victory away from delivering the franchise’s first NBA title since the legendary 1973 squad defeated the Los Angeles Lakers.
The parallels extend far beyond late-game drama.
In 1973, the Lakers won Game 1 before the Knicks responded with four consecutive victories to capture the franchise’s second NBA championship. Hall of Fame center Willis Reed earned Finals MVP honors, while Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas secured the only NBA titles of their careers.
This year’s Knicks dropped only one of the first four games against San Antonio. More importantly, they enter Game 5 with the same 3-1 series advantage their predecessors carried into the final stages of the 1973 Finals.
That championship remains New York’s last.
The Knicks reached the NBA Finals in 1994 and 1999 but failed to end the drought. Consequently, every postseason run since then has been measured against the standard established by Reed, Monroe and the 1973 champions.
Now another Knicks team stands one win away from joining them.
Record Comeback Adds to Historic Knicks Playoff Run
Wednesday’s Game 4 victory only deepened the sense that something special may be unfolding.
The Knicks erased a 29-point deficit before stunning the Spurs 107-106 on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining. As a result, New York seized control of the series and produced the largest comeback in NBA Finals history during the play-by-play era.
Before Game 4, teams were just 12-4,088 when trailing by at least 29 points over the previous three decades.
Nevertheless, the Knicks never stopped believing.
Jalen Brunson scored 36 points. Anunoby added 33 and delivered two of the game’s defining plays in the final seconds. First, he blocked De’Aaron Fox’s transition layup attempt. Then he followed Brunson’s miss with the game-winning tip-in.
“I don’t know if there was a play bigger than any other play in the history of Knicks basketball,” coach Mike Brown said.
That may sound like an exaggeration. However, considering the stakes, it is difficult to argue otherwise.
Close Games Have Defined 2026 NBA Finals
Unlike many recent Finals, this series has produced drama nearly every night.
Game 1 ended with a 10-point Knicks victory, but the outcome remained in doubt deep into the fourth quarter. Game 2 ended in a one-point New York win. Meanwhile, the Spurs responded with a four-point victory in Game 3 before the Knicks escaped with another one-point triumph in Game 4.
Consequently, every game has felt like a coin flip.
The trend mirrors the 1973 Finals, when four consecutive nail-biters set the stage for one of the most memorable championship runs in franchise history.
Furthermore, road teams won each of the first three games of this series, another unusual twist that added to the unpredictability.
Can the Knicks Finish What the 1973 Champions Started?
History offers no guarantees.
The Spurs still feature one of the NBA’s brightest young cores led by Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle.
Still, the similarities to 1973 are impossible to ignore.
The Knicks have overcome double-digit deficits throughout the postseason. They erased a 22-point deficit against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. Then they authored an even larger comeback against San Antonio on the NBA’s biggest stage.
Now they are one win from ending a championship drought that has lasted more than five decades.
Fittingly, the last time a Finals series opened with four games decided in the final minute, the Knicks ended the season holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
New York will try to make history repeat itself Saturday night in Game 5.
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