OG Anunoby moved to No. 1 on the NBA Finals MVP Ladder after he scored 33 points and turned Game 4 with a putback that dropped through with 1.2 seconds left. The New York Knicks’ 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs now puts him at the center of the race and one win from the title.
The search around OG Anunoby stats makes sense because the numbers back up the moment. Through the Finals, he has averaged 23.8 points, 4 rebounds and 1.3 assists while making 15 3-pointers, more than Towns and Jalen Brunson combined, who have 14. That kind of production is why his push to the top of the Finals MVP Ladder is not a fluke but the result of a series that has bent toward him.
The play itself had the kind of weight that changes a race. Anunoby’s tip-in was described as the biggest offensive rebound in New York Knicks history and one of the biggest in NBA Finals history, and it came after he had already blocked De'Aaron Fox in the closing seconds to keep the moment alive. Karl-Anthony Towns said he gave the Knicks a chance to win and called him the best two-way player in the NBA, while Josh Hart said Anunoby has been amazing on both ends and made a winning play.
That is the reason the ladder feels settled and unsettled at the same time. Anunoby has the edge because his performance arrived in the biggest game so far, but the series is not over and the Spurs still have a chance to rally, which means the vote can move again if the next game breaks differently. The Knicks have the lead, Anunoby has the numbers and the signature finish, and now he has to hold off the one thing no ladder can freeze: what happens next.
