OG Anunoby has moved to the front of the Finals MVP conversation after four games, and the case got stronger with a Game 4 finish that changed the feel of the series. The Knicks are one win away from their first championship since 1973, and the award is likely to be handed out around midnight on Saturday.
That timing matters because the vote will come with only one game, at most, left to weigh. After four Finals games, Anunoby is averaging 23.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 58% from the field, 55.6% from three and 92% from the line. In Game 4, he scored 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting, made 7 of 9 shots from deep, blocked De’Aaron Fox’s late layup attempt and then tipped in Jalen Brunson’s miss with 1.2 seconds left. That sequence capped the largest comeback in Finals history and gave his résumé the kind of defining moment voters usually remember when a race is close.
Brunson is still the superstar in the room, and his numbers keep that argument alive. He is averaging 29.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the Finals, and he scored 36 in Game 4. But he is also shooting 39.6% from the field and 34.5% from three, while six other Knicks have better field-goal percentages in the series. That is where the debate tightens: Finals MVP voting is usually a mix of production, efficiency, defense and momentum, and Anunoby has the cleaner case on the latter three. FanDuel still had Brunson as the betting favorite at -115, with Anunoby at +230, which only shows how often the market leans toward the established lead option even when the current form points elsewhere.
The race has also shifted because the series itself is nearing a final judgment. The Knicks lead the Spurs 3-1, and the Spurs would need a historic comeback to change the outcome. If the series ends after Game 5, voters will not be choosing between months of history; they will be choosing between one star’s volume and another player’s all-around impact in the closing stretch. Anunoby has the edge in the moment. Brunson still has the edge in reputation. The last game, if there is one, will decide whether the award follows the name on the marquee or the player who made the defining plays.
The comparison has been building alongside the wider postseason story, with Finals MVP talk also shaped by how awards have landed in earlier rounds. The discussion of the Finals MVP has not been a simple popularity contest, and this one is no different: Brunson and Anunoby are the names in the center, but the vote will turn on which standard matters most when the title is almost within reach.
