Nine-year NBA veteran De’Aaron Fox made a basic rookie mistake in the closing seconds of Game 4.
The San Antonio Spurs guard chased down a loose ball in the frontcourt with his team ahead 106-105 in the dying seconds of Wednesday’s NBA Finals contest at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y. With the Spurs in the lead, Fox could have dribbled out the clock and waited for the Knicks to foul him.
Instead, Fox challenged shot-blocker extraordinaire OG Anunoby at the rim. The Knicks swingman swatted Fox’s shot off the backboard, allowing New York to get the rebound and call a timeout.
DE'AARON FOX COST SAN ANTONIO THE GAME 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/kv9eciYzJS
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) June 11, 2026
As every Knicks fan will remember for the rest of their lives, Anunoby tapped in the game-winning putback one possession later.
Several fans slammed Fox for his decision to attack Anunoby in transition rather than pull the ball back out and waste more clock.
Why did Fox shoot that?
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) June 11, 2026
And of course the story is the NY comeback
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 11, 2026
But this is an epic disaster by San Antonio
Everything that went wrong did, including Fox going for the layup instead of pulling the ball out https://t.co/tS8L60FDzP
Fox will think about this for the rest of his life…
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) June 11, 2026
What on earth was he thinking? BRUTAL pic.twitter.com/BYBRxjzqDc
WTF was Fox thinking? Just run the clock out or make them foul you. He’s played some DUMB 🏀 LAST 20mins
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) June 11, 2026
DeAaron Fox shooting the ball up 1 with the shot clock off was idiotic. Tough to pin point 1 moment when you blow a 30
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 11, 2026
Pt lead but that’s the game.
The Spurs’ 29-point collapse was obviously caused by far more than just one play. But San Antonio could have easily escaped with the victory had Fox had the proper situational awareness with Game 4 hanging in the balance.
It was the second time in the NBA Finals that the Spurs committed a game-losing mistake in the closing seconds. With a championship on the line, even one time is too many.
