Two of sports’ biggest championship series are mirroring each other in more ways than one.
While the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes battle for the Stanley Cup, the New York Knicks are chasing their first NBA championship in 53 years against the San Antonio Spurs.
Wednesday night’s Game 4 at Madison Square Garden featured the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, as New York erased a 29-point deficit to move within one win of a title.
The insane finish, which featured a one-handed tip-in from Knicks forward OG Anunoby to put his team up one point with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock, caught the eye of more than a few interested outside observers elsewhere in pro sports, including Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella.
“They’ve been watching our games,” Tortorella quipped ahead of Game 5 in the Cup Final on Thursday. “I wanted to go to bed, but when they got it down to 15, you knew something stupid was going to happen. I’m just basically saying the same stupid stuff has happened in our series.”
Tortorella has seen his Golden Knights split the first four games with the Hurricanes in a crazy series that closely mirrors what has happened on the court in New York and San Antonio. The “stupid stuff” he is most likely referring to would be when Vegas took a 4-0 lead over Carolina into the third period of Game 3 on home ice, but couldn’t close out the game in regulation.
The Hurricanes, doing their best Knicks impression, would score four goals in the third period, including scoring three goals in 39 seconds. However, unlike the Spurs, the Golden Knights avoided ultimate embarrassment, scoring on a shot from defender Shea Theodore in double overtime to stave off what would have been a historic defeat of their own.
Carolina was attempting to become only the second-ever team to win a playoff game when trailing by four-plus goals in the third period. NHL teams are now 0-109 in the Stanley Cup Final when trailing by four or more goals in the third period.
The bonkers back-and-forth series has featured plenty of boneheaded plays from some of the top players in hockey, something else that Tortorella was asked to compare to what went on in New York on Wednesday night. Late in the contest, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox had a chance to kill valuable time off the clock in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter after grabbing a loose ball.
Instead of taking a breath and pulling the ball back, Fox tried to finish his fast break opportunity and saw his layup attempt stuffed at the rim by Anunoby. The Knicks grabbed the rebound and were fouled up court with just 5.7 seconds left, allowing them to set up the game-winning play.
De’Aaron Fox gets blocked going for layup late in Game 4 of NBA Finals
“Yeah, and you watch that play, I forget the basketball player’s name, but he’s probably a very intelligent player,” Tortorella said. “I think the intensity and just the moment that’s going on in the finals now, I mean, they’re human beings. It just overcomes you sometimes to do some stupid things.
“And, yeah, I don’t have an answer. Who can explain some of the things that’s going on in this series? One thing as a coach you look for, as long as they care, as long as they’re trying, that’s all you can ask, and there’ll be some crazy things that go along with it.”
Tortorella will be hoping his Golden Knights don’t have any gaffes that massive in Game 5 as they try to take a 3-2 series lead in the unfriendly confines of Carolina’s Lenovo Center. Puck drop for the contest is set for 8 pm.
