NBA Finals roundtable: Is OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns the MVP? – The Athletic

The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Knicks in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals. 

Game 4 of this year’s NBA Finals will go down as one of the most memorable games in the league’s history. The New York Knicks producing the biggest comeback in finals history in Madison Square Garden, putting them on the brink of snapping a 53-year title drought? It will be tough to top that. Thank goodness we got two days off before Saturday’s Game 5.

Now the Spurs will attempt their own comeback. Only one team has ever won the title after going down 3-1 in the finals: LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, a decade ago. The gut punch from Game 4 has to be staggering, but the Spurs have been close enough in this series that they should be able to find some hope.

The Athletic’s Nick Friedell, Tony Jones, Jay King, Eric Koreen and Dan Woike got together to talk about the Spurs’ chances, the Finals MVP race and more.

Before Game 3, five of our writers agreed that Karl-Anthony Towns was the MVP of the series. If you had to give out Finals MVP heading into Game 5, who would you choose? And how clear do you think the choice is?

Friedell: I would go with OG Anunoby. His plays down the stretch in Game 4 will be remembered forever if the Knicks win, and he has been the most solid two-way performer for the group throughout this series. If he has another big game in Game 5, I think the award is his.

But I don’t think the gap is very wide. If Jalen Brunson has a big night, he will be the MVP. He is the engine of the entire group and will have the narrative push behind him if the Knicks pull this off.

Jones: I think it should be Anunoby, with Brunson heavily in the conversation. Towns disappeared in Game 3 and got into foul trouble in the first half of Game 4. That derailed his candidacy a bit. If anything, it speaks to how long a series is. Towns was great early. Brunson was good in Game 3 and great in Game 4. But Anunoby has been consistent through four games, was great in two of them and has the defining moment of the series.

King: It’s up in the air right now, but I would choose Anunoby. Has he missed yet in the series? It doesn’t seem like it. He’s also the only Knick who seems comfortable finishing near Victor Wembanyama. It doesn’t hurt that Anunoby’s final-second sequence in Game 4 will be remembered forever. On top of the heroics, Anunoby has defended at his usual elite level. His game-saving block against De’Aaron Fox was one of several swats Anunoby has racked up in transition. The Spurs’ ball handlers are impossibly athletic, but Anunoby can handle them.

Towns would rank second for me at this point. His impact against Wembanyama is unmatched. The Knicks can space out the unique big man because Towns has the skill to do it. Brunson’s job is the hardest because the Spurs have sold out to stop him, but he’ll need to be a little bit more effective, as he was in Game 4, to catch up to the others.

Koreen: At the risk of relitigating the Steph Curry-Andre Iguodala debate of 2015, I think it’s Anunoby by a hair over Brunson. In the macro, the Knicks offense crumbles without Brunson; he stirs the drink. What he has done at the end of several games has been huge. However, within the context of this series, what Anunoby has done in the biggest moments on both ends, plus his overall numbers — the best true-shooting percentage in an extended playoff run ever — put him just ahead for me. His consistency and efficiency are unmatched.

However, Brunson could easily close the gap with a strong game. So could Towns. The Knicks are plus-40 with Towns on the floor. No regular is close to that. It’s really tight.

Woike: He hasn’t been efficient. He hasn’t looked comfortable. But Brunson’s relentlessness and his willingness to take and take and take big shots in the biggest moments are huge. The case for Anunoby is simple — no one has been better in their role than him, and he hit the biggest shot (and got the biggest stop) in this series. But it’s Brunson’s team. He’s done enough, in my mind, to have the edge heading into Game 5.

Through four games, only eight points separate the Knicks and the Spurs. On a scale of one (not at all) and 10 (extremely), how confident does that make you that the Spurs can come back in this series?

Friedell: Five. The Spurs had the chance to win every single game so far in this series. They have the talent and they have the depth. They just don’t have the experience. If they can win Game 5 at home, I think all the pressure goes back to the Knicks at MSG to close this thing out. The whole world will be expecting a party in New York City and that building will get tense if the Spurs get out to another lead.

How do the Spurs respond early in Game 5? There has to be an emotional hangover from the meltdown in Game 4. If the Spurs can weather that storm and win Game 5, they will get some of their confidence back and remember how close they have been throughout this series.

Jones: I would give it a four. The Spurs are still capable of winning the series but they need to stop saying publicly — and in such a demonstrative manner — that they are capable of winning the series. As immature as they have been on the court in clutch moments, their lack of respect for their opponent has been almost equally eye-opening. To win the series, they need to lock in, be boring, take it one game and one possession at a time and do the little things on the margins that have prevented them from winning games. They certainly have the talent and the ability to do it.

King: Two. Winning three straight games in the Finals would be extremely difficult for any team, and nothing they have shown in crunch-time has made me think I can trust them to dig out a close game. Young teams typically need to collect scars before they become mentally strong enough to capture a championship. We’re seeing that in this series. And that’s why I can’t see them pulling off an epic comeback.

Koreen: A solid six. On the one hand, it feels like the Knicks have dominated the fourth quarters, with every game so far qualifying for “clutch” play (the margin has been within five points in the final five minutes). On the other hand, the overall score in those 48 minutes is just 102-87, with the Spurs shooting a miserable 7-of-28 from 3 in that time.

I think some of that is real, speaking to the Spurs’ offensive shortcomings. However, the Spurs have a defensive level they haven’t reached in this series. I think the Knicks take this home, but I definitely believe that between the Spurs’ defensive potential and a bit more shooting luck, they are not out of this. I can envision a comeback, even if I’m not predicting one.

Woike: Can? A seven. Will? Much lower — maybe a four. Wembanyama is the best player in the series, but I don’t think he has affected play enough to lead the Spurs to three straight wins. That means it would fall on some other players, and, quite frankly, none of the guards have consistently been good enough. Barring an injury, it’s obviously the Knicks’ series to lose. The Spurs had their chance to come back and fully get into the series in Game 4. They couldn’t take advantage.

As usual, the officiating has come under fire in the finals. 1) Has it been fair? 2) Has it been good?

Friedell: It has been fair. I haven’t had any major issues with it in the moment. There have been missed calls, and I thought parts of Game 3 got a little out of hand. But I don’t buy that the officiating has been some kind of huge storyline that has swayed the series either way. It is what it is for both teams.

Jones: I think the Spurs have had a far better whistle than the Knicks on the aggregate. I also think it’s to be expected, considering the Knicks were the team to get off to the fast start in the series. In other words, had the Spurs won the first two games of the series, I believe the Knicks would have received the benefit of the whistle.

I thought Game 4 was the best officiated game of the series. One of the best things the Knicks have done is recognize the Spurs’ physicality on Brunson and adjust to playing Jose Alvarado with him, freeing up Brunson off the ball. It was one of the things that sparked the Game 4 rally.

King: It has probably been fair. These teams are both so hard to officiate. They’re grappling on the perimeter all game long. Brunson is drawing contact constantly, and so is Wembanyama. I don’t know why the NBA suddenly allows so much wrestling during the playoffs, but I’m not mad at it. I like the intensity. I love Wembanyama pointing at his head after drawing a flagrant foul. Give me all the great theater.

Koreen: Wembanyama should have been given a flagrant for his shove of Brunson in Game 3. It was the definition of unnecessary. I understand why Knicks fans are upset about it, while at the same time glad that he hasn’t been automatically suspended because of his accumulation of flagrants. On the whole, I have not seen anything to suggest that the refereeing has favored one team.

That is not to say it’s been “good,” and I’m not sure what the league should do about that. Most people enjoy the extra physicality of the playoffs. But the more you deviate from the regular-season standard, the more room there is for individual disagreements on what the new standard should be, producing the inconsistency we have seen. I’m fine with the trade-off, since we get a more compelling product. If I were more invested in who wins, it would be driving me mad, though.

Woike: Too much talk about the officiating, in my opinion. The big miss happened in Game 3, but otherwise, I think it’s been good enough.

What one thing must change if the Spurs are going to extend the series?

Friedell: Take better shots down the stretch, play with more poise in the final minutes. I think another key is that coach Mitch Johnson has to do whatever he can to find Wemby some more rest. Easier said than done, but Wembanyama has repeatedly looked gassed at the end of several of these games. Somebody off the bench has got to be able to hang in there for a couple extra minutes and give him some rest. More than anything else, the Spurs have to show some mental toughness, because after the way they blew that lead in Game 4, it feels like everything could unravel quickly if they let the Knicks get an early lead.

Jones: I think having multiple days off between games for the remainder of the series should help the Spurs. San Antonio looked noticeably tired down the stretch in Games 2 and 4, with both of those games being played on a single day of rest. The wear and tear caught up to them in a way I don’t believe will be a factor for the remainder of the series. On the court, they need to make plays down the stretch when it matters. They won Game 3 by making those plays, particularly the Stephon Castle 3-pointer against the clock. San Antonio either needs more of that, or the Spurs need to win games by a margin that doesn’t need clutch minutes.

King: They need to hold up better against the Knicks’ five-out lineups. Lost in the madness of the comeback, New York was able to consistently draw Wembanyama away from the paint and force him into more uncomfortable defensive situations throughout the second half of Game 4. As phenomenal as Wembanyama is defensively, the Knicks have done a great job of attacking his weaknesses with Towns on the court. The Spurs have lost the Towns minutes all series. Unless Towns gets in more foul trouble, they need to figure out solutions for when he’s on the floor.

Koreen: I don’t think it needs to be a drastic change, but I would like to see the Spurs give the ball to Dylan Harper more often in the fourth quarter, which is a wild thing to say about a 20-year-old rookie. His usage rate in the final quarter in this series is just a tick lower than those of Fox and Castle, but his physicality, especially his ability to finish through contact, feels like the most important weapon when considering which guard carries the heaviest load.

Not that the Spurs have a ton of shooting around Wembanyama, but the Knicks are probably happiest to help off Harper, too. Anything San Antonio can do to produce a little more space while keeping their best players on the floor is a good thing.

Woike: They don’t have to change much. As previously noted, the series has basically been a coin flip in the aggregate. If you could wave a magic wand and make one thing different, I’d focus on Keldon Johnson. He’s been really quiet in this series, and the Spurs need his offensive punch. He was voted the best bench player in the NBA this season, and he hasn’t been close to being the best bench player in this series.