‘Sat Right Behind The Knicks Bench’: Dusty May Recalls San Antonio Spurs’ 29-Point NBA Finals Collapse Before Dallas Mavericks Rematch
SAN ANTONIO — Mavericks coach Dusty May sat right behind the New York Knicks bench at Madison Square Garden in June as the San Antonio Spurs lost a 29-point lead in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. May told the story before the Dallas Mavericks played the Spurs on Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center.
New York won that game 107-106 on June 10, the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, and closed out the series in five games three days later.
May was still Michigan’s coach then, two months removed from the school’s national title, and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel wanted him in New York for a celebration with donors. That meant missing part of a recruiting event in South Carolina.
“It’s a funny story,” May said. “The NBPA camp, and it was going on in South Carolina and it’s the biggest recruiting period because you have all the best players for a two-day period you can evaluate everyone. You don’t have to travel to LA and Vegas and all these places and our athletic director, Warde, called and said, ‘Hey, I know you said you’re gonna have to miss this event in New York, but we really need you here, we’re celebrating the national championship. These are some of our biggest donors and whatnot. They want to host. It’s important that you get there.’”
“And I said, ‘OK.’ And he said, ‘We’ll have a plane for you in Spartanburg ready to go,’” May continued. “And I look at the scroll and look at ESPN.com or whatever, and I see that the Knicks have a home game. So I started making calls just hoping that somebody had a ticket. And it’s a long story, but I found one because a guy is on vacation that I had a connection to and this and that.”
“And so yeah, I actually sat right behind the Knicks bench and the Spurs were playing so well, up 29 at the half,” May added. “The Knicks fans weren’t even that upset. They were just like, ‘Wow, like they’re playing great. We’ve got to compete.’ And then, so yeah, that was the comeback game.”
Dusty May Watched The Spurs Build A Finals Record Lead
San Antonio led 44-22 after the first quarter and 76-49 at halftime, the largest halftime lead for a road team in Finals history. The Spurs made 14 3-pointers in the first half, a Finals record for a half. Their lead reached 29 in the third quarter.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. San Antonio scored 30 points after halftime.
“I was there for the whole thing,” May explained. “I mean, look, both teams, the Spurs, a lot of times it comes down to making shots, and the Spurs made shots, and it seemed like they got a lot of the same looks in the second half. That was a game where I thought, as I was sitting there watching, like, wow, this would be an unbelievable challenge. And if I ever had an opportunity, man, I would love to be able to do what they’re doing right now.”
New York Knicks Erased A 29-Point Deficit
New York outscored San Antonio 58-30 in the second half. OG Anunoby tipped in a Jalen Brunson miss with 1.2 seconds left for the winning basket, giving the Knicks a 3-1 series lead. They won Game 5 94-90 in San Antonio on June 13 for the franchise’s first championship since 1973, and Brunson was named Finals MVP.
The previous record for a Finals comeback was 24 points, set by the Boston Celtics in 2008.
Thirteen days after Game 4, on June 23, the Mavericks hired May away from Michigan. His first game against the Spurs as Dallas’ coach came Oct. 24, a 122-106 San Antonio win in Dallas. The Spurs (5-2) have won five straight going into Wednesday’s rematch.
Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
