What looked like a certain blowout at Madison Square Garden became one of the most memorable comebacks in Knicks history.

New York erased a 29-point deficit and claimed a thrilling one-point win in the final moments.

The contest opened at a brisk and physical tempo with officials enforcing stricter calls than in prior games.

Karl-Anthony Towns drew two personal fouls in the first eight seconds and sat after just over a minute.

Without Towns the Spurs surged ahead to a 12-2 lead inside three minutes.

The Knicks managed only two points in the opening 3:05 and fell behind early.

San Antonio built a 14-10 edge before extending it further with long-range shooting.

Stephon Castle hit consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to 22-10 as the Spurs made four of their first five attempts from deep.

San Antonio finished the first quarter with a 19-point advantage after sinking nine threes at 68 percent.

The second quarter followed the same pattern as the Spurs added stifling defense to continued three-point accuracy. By halftime they led 76-49 after making 14 of 25 threes and shooting 61 percent overall.

OG Anunoby quietly tallied 12 points before the break despite the lopsided score.

At halftime San Antonio led in three-point shooting 12 of 26 to New Yorks 4 of 12, committed just two turnovers to the Knicks eight, and outscored the New York bench 22-2.

Madison Square Garden fell quiet.

Anunoby opened the third quarter with one of his seven three-pointers cutting the margin to 17.

Shortly afterward Victor Wembanyama received a flagrant one foul on Towns and the Knicks began their surge.

Jalen Brunson scored to trim the deficit to 22 then Anunoby added another three to reach 22 points and cap a 10-0 run.

The Knicks kept chipping away and Anunoby hit a step-back three late in the period to make it 90-75. By the end of the third New York had cut the lead to 15.

In the fourth the Knicks successfully challenged an out-of-bounds call to retain possession while trailing 90-75.

Towns hit a step-back three and Anunoby added his sixth three to bring the deficit to 11. Towns followed with a tough layup over Wembanyama to reach single digits.

Anunoby buried his seventh three to make it 99-95 completing a 20-4 run over five minutes.

San Antonio answered with a three but Brunson countered with a deep three over Wembanyama to pull within one at 104-103.

After missed free throws Brunson converted a midrange floater to give New York its first lead at 105-104.

With under 40 seconds left a shot-clock violation gave the Spurs a chance and Castle made two free throws to lead 106-105.

On the final possession Brunson missed a deep three but Anunoby tipped the rebound in for a 107-106 lead with 1.2 seconds remaining.

The Spurs could not get a shot off and New York secured the victory for a 3-1 series lead.

'Party pooper' Mamdani: Knicks owner criticizes mayor and NYPD over limits

Before the game Knicks owner James Dolan criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch for security rules that restricted access around Madison Square Garden and forced cancellation of a planned fan party outside the arena.

He called them New Yorks biggest party poopers and accused the mayor of turning the streets around the arena into a police state.

The city approved a permit for a 500-to-999-person watch party yet the planned security zone and street closures limited entry.

Dolan deemed the approval disingenuous at best and canceled the event because the 1000-person cap would leave tens of thousands of fans unable to attend.