Carmelo Anthony thinks that he played a part in the biggest shot in New York Knicks history.
The Knicks completed an absolutely unprecedented 29-point comeback against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night. New York won by a final score of 107-106 in front of their home crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. after OG Anunoby had a game-winning tip-in with just 1.2 seconds remaining (video here).
Speaking with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN after the game, retired Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony said that he had a role in Anunoby’s game-winner. Anthony, who is now a broadcaster for NBC Sports, was in attendance at the game and said that he was yelling out instructions to the Knicks players right before the crucial sequence.
“I was yelling at them the whole time, ‘The offensive rebound is there! The offensive rebound is there!'” said Anthony. “Coming out of that timeout, I made eye contact with them and was yelling ‘The offensive rebound is there! Somebody go!'”
Indeed, Anunoby’s putback came after Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson missed a deep three that pulled San Antonio seven-footer Victor Wembanyama out of the paint to contest the shot. Anunoby was then able to leap above some of the Spurs’ smaller guards and tip in the miss to produce one of the most iconic moments in NBA Finals history to date.
Meanwhile, Anthony (who played for the Knicks from 2011-17 and won a scoring title in 2013) was sitting on the opposite side from the basket where Anunoby’s game-winner took place. But his seat was also right by the Knicks’ bench, and he thinks that he was able to direct some of their players on what to do right before that decisive final offensive possession.
Of course, the Knicks players were probably much more locked in on what their coaching staff was telling them during the timeout than what Me7o was yelling out at them from a distance. But you certainly cannot question Anthony’s loyalty to New York, and he is also hoping he gets a big honor from the Knicks in the near future.
