OG Anunoby Emerges as Deserving Finals MVP for Knicks
While Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have garnered much of the spotlight during the 2026 NBA Finals, it is former Toronto Raptor OG Anunoby who has proven most valuable to the New York Knicks’ championship push against the San Antonio Spurs.
A Historic Game 4 Performance
Anunoby delivered one of the most memorable plays in NBA Finals history during Game 4, capping the greatest comeback ever seen in the championship series. With the Knicks trailing by 11 points and just over seven minutes remaining, Anunoby immediately hit a three-pointer upon returning to the game, then recorded a steal and assisted on a Karl-Anthony Towns basket to ignite the rally.
His heroics continued down the stretch. Anunoby blocked Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox with 11.1 seconds left while the Knicks trailed by a point, then secured the game-winning tip-in — a play Knicks head coach Mike Brown called perhaps the biggest in franchise history.
Elite Two-Way Dominance
Anunoby’s impact extends far beyond a single moment. He is shooting an extraordinary 55.6% from three-point range in the series (15 of 27), outpacing both Brunson and Towns combined from beyond the arc, while averaging 23.8 points per game. His true shooting percentage of 78.4% marks the highest among all players averaging 20 or more points over a four-game span in NBA Finals history.
On the defensive end, Anunoby has been even more effective than Victor Wembanyama, the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. He has successfully guarded quick guards like Fox, wing players, and even the towering Wembanyama himself.
Brunson and Towns Fall Short
Brunson has averaged 29.5 points per game, and Towns has been dominant in three of the four games, but Anunoby’s remarkable efficiency on offense — compared to Brunson’s sub-40% shooting — combined with his defensive excellence makes him the clear choice for the award named after Michael Jordan.
A Redemption Story Years in the Making
The Finals MVP bid carries special significance for Anunoby, who famously watched the Toronto Raptors win the 2019 championship from a hospital bed while recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Now, he has seized his opportunity on the biggest stage.
If the Knicks win another game, Anunoby would capture his second championship, making him — alongside Chris Bosh — the only Raptors draft picks in franchise history to win more than one NBA title.
Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox Problem
San Antonio’s struggles have been compounded by Fox’s poor performance. After the Spurs traded for Fox in February 2025 and signed him to a $229 million extension, he has been largely ineffective, shooting just 4 of 14 in Game 3 and 3 of 13 in the opener. His critical mistakes in Game 4’s final minutes — including a missed layup and repeated turnovers — directly contributed to the Spurs’ collapse.
With the Spurs having drafted Dylan Harper with the second overall pick last summer, questions loom about Fox’s future role in San Antonio.
By the Numbers
The Knicks became only the second team in NBA Finals history to win two games by a single point in the same series, joining the 1975 Golden State Warriors. New York also rallied from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit against Cleveland in the conference finals. In Game 4, San Antonio set records for the largest halftime lead by a visiting team in a Finals game and made 14 three-pointers before halftime, the most ever in a Finals first half. Remarkably, the Knicks led for just 53.8 seconds in the game — the second-shortest time for a winning team in Finals history.
