No debe resultar fácil sobreponerse a un mazazo como el que recibieron los San Antonio Spurs el pasado miércoles. El equipo liderado por el colosal Victor Wembanyama ganaba al descanso por 29 puntos de diferencia a los New York Knicks en el cuarto partido de la serie de las finales de la NBA. Todo parecía hecho para que los del sur de Texas igualaran las series 2-2 y recuperaran el factor cancha en una ronda final que pasará a la historia por la igualdad entre las dos franquicias. Pero el deporte a veces es caprichoso y depara sorprendentes giros de guion. Un desfallecimiento ofensivo de los Spurs en la segunda mitad dio alas a los neoyorquinos, que lograron una histórica remontada en el último segundo, con un increíble palmeo del alero OG Anunoby, que desató la locura en el Madison Square Garden.

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© Ross D. Franklin (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The crowd at Madison Square Garden was forlorn as the New York Knicks fell far behind in Game 4 of the N.B.A. finals. After they won, it was electric.

© José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times

Los de Nueva York toman una ventaja de 3-1 y quedan a una sola victoria de su primer anillo desde 1973, que podrían conquistar este próximo sábado en San Antonio. Solo los Cavaliers de LeBron en 2016 han remontado un 3-1 en la historia de las Finales Leer

Mr. Wembanyama has had to keep a low profile while in New York to try and win the N.B.A. finals, but on visits there, he has always resisted hiding in hotel rooms and private cars.

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Victor Wembanyama has his first NBA Finals win — and the New York Knicks suddenly have a lot of work left to end their 53-year championship drought.

The night began with frustration and boos, and not because of the Knicks. But by the end of Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals, the team had slightly deflated some spirits, too.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

When Mangue Banzima arrived in New York at 17 from an African country — he prefers not to say which — the only thing that made him feel at home was the Knicks. He remembers wearing sneakers as a child like those of his idol Patrick Ewing. And when he arrived in the United States, he found a city where his basketball team was everywhere. Banzima’s arrival in New York coincided with something no Knicks fan will ever forget: they had just reached the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. That was in 1999. It has not happened since in 27 years — until now, when the New Yorkers have finally qualified to compete for the famed ring, for which they will face the Spurs again. After so many disappointments, the success of a team used to failure has infected the whole city with euphoria.

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