Spurs vs Knicks Prediction: NBA Finals Game 5 Best Bet – May 14

The San Antonio Spurs find themselves in a hole that almost no team has ever climbed out of. Down 3-1 in the NBA Finals after blowing a 29-point second-half lead in Game 4, they now face a must-win situation at Frost Bank Center on Sunday night.

The Knicks need just one more victory to end a 53-year championship drought dating back to 1973. What happens in Game 5 could define this Spurs generation for years to come.

🏀 San Antonio Spurs vs New York Knicks: Spurs -4 handicap @1.74

The Spurs have played well enough to win every single game in this series and have nothing to show for it. They led 76-49 at halftime of Game 4 at Madison Square Garden before getting outscored 58-30 in the second half, including 32-16 in the fourth quarter alone.

Victor Wembanyama finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds but shot just 36% from the field and missed three of his seven free throws when the game was still winnable. Dylan Harper delivered 21 points on 67% shooting off the bench, proving the firepower is there, but this team keeps finding new ways to give games away in the final minutes.

The Spurs also had a chance to win in regulation when De’Aaron Fox attacked the basket with ten seconds left and the score at 106-105, rather than drawing a foul. OG Anunoby blocked the shot and then scored the game-winner off an offensive rebound at the other end.

San Antonio have now let massive leads slip in both home games of this series, which points to a closing problem rather than a talent problem. The good news is that Frost Bank Center has been a fortress all season, and the Spurs have not lost three straight home games at any point this year.

The Knicks have been nothing short of remarkable in these playoffs. They trailed 1-2 against the Atlanta Hawks in the opening round before winning 13 consecutive games, and no team in NBA Finals history had ever won a game after trailing by 29 points before Wednesday night.

Anunoby was the story of Game 4, hitting seven of nine three-point attempts and finishing with 33 points in one of the great individual Finals performances. Jalen Brunson added 36 points and seven assists, continuing the kind of clutch postseason run that has firmly placed him in the conversation of the best players in the league.

New York shot 15 of 32 from beyond the arc in Game 4, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado both hitting key threes in the fourth quarter comeback. This group has proven all season that no deficit is too large and no moment is too big.

Coach Mike Brown was under constant pressure from New York media throughout the regular season, but his team has silenced every critic with this run. The Knicks are one win from their first championship since 1973, and they have every reason to believe they can get it done on the road.

The Spurs will not let their season end at home. That is the simplest and most compelling argument for backing San Antonio on Sunday night. They have the talent, they have the crowd, and they have something to prove after two brutal home collapses in the same series.

Wembanyama is too good to shoot 36% from the field again, and a bounce-back performance from him changes everything about how this game looks. The only team to ever overcome a 3-1 Finals deficit was the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Spurs will be motivated by that history rather than crushed by it.

Their problem has been closing games, not building leads, and one full performance across four quarters makes them the better team on this court. Back the Spurs -4 at 1.74.

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