The San Antonio Spurs didn't lose Game 4 due to one play. That's not how blowing a 29-point lead to author the biggest meltdown in NBA Finals history works. That said, there were certain blunders that stood out across San Antonio's second-half collapse, with none bigger than De'Aaron Fox getting blocked by OG Anunoby with 12 seconds left and the Spurs up by one after a tipped-out rebound sparked a one-man fast break.
On the next possession, Anunoby put himself on every NBA Finals highlight reel into perpetuity with his instantly iconic tip-in with 1.2 seconds left in the game. Fox, meanwhile, was left as the goat of the game due to his late struggles, drawing the most criticism for San Antonio's collapse -- with Victor Wembanyama and Mitch Johnson earning their share as well.
Fox is supposed to be the veteran presence on the Spurs, but in the biggest moment of the game, he allowed himself to get sped up and failed to make the savvy play.
"I just thought I'd be able to outrun him," Fox said when asked about the play. "That's it."
The big problem is that explanation doesn't really work with what we see happen on video -- with the obvious benefit of not being in the middle of that high-stress situation. Fox has to chase down the ball deep into the court that isn't on a direct line with the rim, meaning he's not going full speed (which has always been his biggest strength) and has to meander back into the paint to get to the rim. That allows Anunoby to not only make up the ground on him, but do so under control to avoid steamrolling the Spurs guard for a foul.
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All Fox needed to do in that situation was get the ball and pull it back out to force the Knicks to foul and send him to the free-throw line. Getting two points would've pushed the lead to three, but it wasn't enough to put the game away. If he thought he could outrun Anunoby, he should've been trying to outrun him to take more time off the clock and then get those two points at the line.
Fox shouldn't shoulder the blame entirely for the loss, as Wembanyama was dreadful in the second half, shooting 3 of 14 from the field and 1 of 4 from the free-throw line, including two misses late with the chance to give San Antonio the lead. Mitch Johnson pulled a Kenny Atkinson and just watched from the sideline as his team melted down, refusing to call a timeout to try to calm his guys down until the lead had already completely evaporated.
That said, Fox was at the center of some of the Spurs' worst moments in the loss, including a woeful fourth quarter where he went 1 of 5 and had some costly turnovers. Unfortunately for him, that's going to be something he has to live with for a long time going forward -- unless he and the Spurs have a historic comeback in them.
