The New York Knicks are one win away from their first championship since 1973. You read that right, folks.
That also means it is officially time to argue about the Finals MVP award, which will likely be handed out at around midnight on Saturday.
The Knicks lead the Spurs 3-1, are beating them up and down, left and right, and without any sort of help from the refs, and not only that, but they are about to get beatified after a miraculous Game 4 in which they came back from a 29-point deficit and got
the Hand of God on their side.
At this point, we all have a pretty clear idea of who’s who in the race for the Finals MVP. Jalen Brunson is the 1A superstar even though Becky Hammon would never be able to deal with that. The Knicks won’t have arrived at MSG with a 2-0 lead had Karl-Anthony Towns not played at the top of his powers for a couple outings. Victor Wembanyama looked good, then great, then dirty, and is not even remotely close to being the Alien we were sold, at least on winning terms.
But man, oh man. Are we in for another underdog Finals MVP a la Iggy or Cedric Maxwell? OG Anunoby, step in.
- OG Anunoby, Knicks
Excuse me if you are a Brunson stan—understandable, we all are—or if you don’t agree with me, but with four games in the rearview mirror, Anunoby leads this race.
Although FanDuel sides with you and still has Brunson as the best-odds candidate at -115 compared to OG’s +230, the proof is in the pudding as oddsmakers are finally placing Ogugua in a hunting position.
So far, OG has put together the best combination of production, efficiency, defense, and most importantly momentum heading into a potential title-clincher.
Through four Finals games, OG is averaging 23.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks while shooting 58% from the field, 55.6% from three, and 92% from the line. That is already absurd, but Anunoby still had his moment waiting for him in G4 as he dropped 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting, hit 7 of 9 threes, blocked De’Aaron Fox’s dumb layup attempt late, and ultimately went on to win the game himself by tipping in Brunson’s miss with 1.2 seconds left to finish the largest comeback in Finals history.
Bow down.
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks
Brunson has had a kinda tough Finals for his standards. That said, he remains and will ever be an obvious candidate to win the award simply because the Knicks run through this little big-headed man, and the Spurs are spending more time trying to stop him than doing anything else.
Brunson is averaging 29.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals, and his 36-point Game 4 kept the Knicks alive long before Anunoby finished it. The case against him is down to his awful efficiency during the past four games. Brunson is shooting 39.6% from the field—six other Knicks have better averages—and 34.5% from three—worst than Josh Hart’s 35.7% clip—while his one-man tendencies have gotten the offense a bit stagnant at times.
Still, this is the classic true superstar and team-leader pick, so you can never rule him out. Plus, it’s fair to say we have yet to watch a bona fide Brunson game this series, and he might be saving it for last.
- Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
If Brunson might get the benefit of voters, you bet Wembanyama would do the same if the Spurs pull off the historic 3-1 comeback. Not happening, so not even discussing it, let alone after all this crap went down in the last week… Sorry, not sorry.
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks
Not gonna lie here: Towns looked like my Finals MVP pick after the first two games of the series, both ending in road wins at San Antonio.
KAT’s size, shooting, rebounding, and work against Wembanyama on both offense and defense gave the Knicks their early lead and pretty much put the Spurs to bed. Towns is averaging 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and a block per game, which keeps him in the conversation, but the award has started to move away from him of late.
Right now, if you ask me, I’d hand it to the one and only OG. Brunson can still take it with a strong Game 5, and a closeout performance like we’re accustomed to watching him put together could easily swing the whole thing. KAT? Still probable if he has an OG-like experience shortly.
So, who do you have winning the award? Let us know in the comments section below, and Let’s Go Knicks!
