On Wednesday night, Knicks fans had about two hours to prepare for heartbreak en masse.
By halftime of Game 4, Madison Square Garden was tense, social media was falling apart, and the Spurs looked poised to tie the score in the NBA Finals.
The Knicks then completed the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
New York erased a 29-point deficit and defeated San Antonio 107-106 on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, one win away from their first championship since 1973.
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As a result, social media transformed from a digital vigil to a celebratory highlight reel, filling timelines with videos of Knicks fans screaming in bars and on the streets.
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Here are some of the biggest moments from Game 4, both on the court and online.
OG Anunoby’s winner instantly became the center of attention of the night.
For most of the fourth quarter, social media was busy processing how the Knicks got back into the game. Anunoby then gave everyone another topic.
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With seconds left, the Knicks forward tipped for the go-ahead basket, sending Madison Square Garden into a frenzy. Within minutes, the timeline was filled with every angle of the play, from the telecast and slow-motion replays to fan-shot footage from the upper deck to Ben Stiller’s courtside iPhone.
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Celebrities had their own viral moments
With the Knicks’ playoff run, Madison Square Garden has become one of the most frequent characters on the internet, and Wednesday night was no exception.
As the comeback gained momentum, the camera repeatedly cut to celebrity fans seated courtside, including Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Swift, Spike Lee and Mariska Hargitay, who collectively broke Donald Trump’s curse. Their reactions quickly became viral content in their own right, with clips spreading across social media almost as quickly as match highlights. Who can forget Taylor Swift’s white girl dancing to Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer? Or did Josh Hart’s missed layup in the fourth almost give Larry David a heart attack?
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Madison Square Garden has gone completely insane.
MSG quickly became the center of attention on the internet. Fans posted videos from every level of the arena, capturing everything from the mounting stress before the Knicks’ return to the chaos after Anunoby’s win. While television cameras focused on the court, fans captured the comeback from every conceivable angle and crowdsourced their record of the historic night.
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Celebrations spread to New York City
The final buzzer marked the beginning of a new wave of viral content.
Videos posted throughout the night showed fans, including New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani, roaring inside bars, cheering in the streets and celebrating after the game. For several hours, the timeline became a live feed of New York City’s collective joy.
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The meme arrived almost immediately
No major sports moment is complete without a meme, and Game 4 spawned a ton of them. Social media users compared Anunoby’s winner to everything from classical works of art to scenes from viral thriller Obsession, while others turned Victor Wenbanyama’s reaction into instant meme form. Knicks fans also resurfaced Josh Hart’s posts from years ago to spark momentum.
In the hours after the final buzzer sounded, the timeline was a mix of celebration, disbelief, and attempts to explain away the inexplicable through increasingly absurd references.
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The Knicks need one more win to win their first NBA championship in more than 50 years. But regardless of what happens next, Game 4 already feels destined to live on as one of those rare internet moments that transcends sports.
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