OG Anunoby’s tip-in to cap the New York Knicks’ historic Game 4 comeback against the San Antonio Spurs instantly dropped him into one of the most exclusive clubs in basketball.
Very few players have decided an NBA Finals game in the final seconds, and even fewer have done it with the stakes and chaos that Madison Square Garden saw on Wednesday, June 10. The putback of Jalen Brunson’s missed 3-pointer handed New York a 107-106 victory. Meanwhile, Anunoby’s shot capped the largest comeback victory in NBA Finals history and handed the Knicks a 3-1 series lead.
MORE: OG Anunoby becomes Knicks legend with game-winner vs. Spurs
To figure out where Anunoby’s putback belongs, you have to stack it up against the most iconic Finals winners the league has ever seen. For the purpose of this list, we’ll define a late-game dagger that ties a game or gives a team a lead in the final 10 seconds.
Here is a ranking, starting with the best, of the greatest late-game shots in NBA Finals history. Anunoby’s tip-in is slotted into that lineage, not just the Knicks’ highlight reel.
Michael Jordan’s Game 6 dagger in 1998
Michael Jordan’s pull-up over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds remaining in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals is still the defining image of the modern NBA. Jordan stripped Karl Malone on one end, walked the ball up, sized up Russell, then crossed into that 20-footer that froze the Utah Jazz crowd and effectively ended the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty on their terms.
It was not a buzzer-beater in the strict sense, but for all practical purposes it functioned like one. Chicago was down one, and Jordan was always going to take the shot for the championship. Utah still had time, but everyone in the building knew the series was over the second that jumper dropped.
Ray Allen’s Game 6 corner 3 in 2013
Rebound Bosh
Back out to Allen
His three-pointer
BAAAANNNG!!!
8 years ago today, Ray Allen's historic three that saved the Miami Heat in GM6 of the 2013 NBA Finalshttps://t.co/UXzBSSOmqH
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 18, 2021
Down three in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, Miami Heat fans already heading for the exits. LeBron James missed the first desperation 3-pointer. Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound, swung it to the corner, and Ray Allen backpedaled to the line and drilled the most famous catch-and-shoot in Finals history with 5.2 seconds left.
Allen’s shot saved a dynasty in real time. The San Antonio Spurs were seconds away from a clinch. Instead, Miami forced overtime, won the game and then took Game 7 in front of the home crowd. The play is unforgettable because it required perfect awareness, perfect footwork and ice-cold routine in the middle of chaos.
Steve Kerr steps up, calls game in 1997
June 13, 1997: Steve Kerr hits game-winner in G6 of NBA Finals ‼️😱
For Kerr's 60th birthday… throwback to when he sealed his 2nd championship in the CLUTCH! pic.twitter.com/TYTo2gqduu
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) September 27, 2025
By the time Jordan ousted the Jazz with his shot over Russell in 1998, Utah fans were accustomed to heartbreakers. The year before, role player Steve Kerr stepped into a shot with 5 seconds remaining in Game 6 to hand the Bulls a championship.
With the game tied at 86, Utah legend John Stockton left Kerr to double-team Jordan. As the clock wound down, Jordan found a wide-open Kerr near the top of the key. He nailed the shot and delivered one of the all-time quips at the championship parade.
“I thought to myself, ‘I guess I gotta bail Michael out again,'” Kerr said. “The shot went in, and that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
OG Anunoby’s Game 4 tip-in finishes furious rally
The Knicks’ Game 4 against the Spurs was already headed for the history books before Anunoby crashed the glass. New York had trailed by as many as 29 points before storming back at Madison Square Garden to seize a 3–1 series lead in the 2026 Finals.
On the final possession, the Knicks had a chance to win it in regulation. Jalen Brunson fired a deep trey. The initial shot did not drop, and the ball kicked off the rim into a maze of arms. Anunoby crashed down the lane and guided the ball back in, turning an improbable comeback into a series-altering result.
The moment also felt like the coronation of a role player who had already done the dirty work all night and then got the signature play.
Magic Johnson’s sky hook in 1987
39 years ago today, Magic Johnson hit this iconic hook shot game-winner to beat the Celtics 107-106 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals 🪄
Best PG of all time. pic.twitter.com/oy3fsvKCk5
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) June 9, 2026
Magic Johnson’s sky hook in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals is one of those shots that lives in slow motion. The Los Angeles Lakers trailed by one. The ball swung to Magic, and he floated a running hook over the Boston Celtics’ Kevin McHale and Robert Parish with two seconds remaining in Boston.
Los Angeles went on to win the game 107-106 and take a 3–1 series lead, which they closed out in six. The shot is less about pure buzzer-beater theatrics and more about who it was against and what it symbolized. The Showtime Lakers stealing a game in the Boston Garden with a point guard posting up two bigs is as on-brand as it gets.
6. Derek Fisher’s late 3-pointer in 2009
June 11, 2009: Derek Fisher hits two clutch threes one at the end of regulation & one near the end of OT to help the Lakers steal G4 of the Finals in Orlando.
pic.twitter.com/szlYURM2Nd
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) June 12, 2025
Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals in Orlando swung on Los Angeles Lakers role player Derek Fisher, of all people. The Lakers trailed the Magic by three before Fisher pulled up from deep to tie the game with 4.6 seconds remaining and force overtime. Then, in OT, he buried another big three from the wing with 31 seconds left to put Los Angeles ahead for good.
That series was not as historically loaded as some of the others on this list, but Fisher’s shots essentially ended it. The Lakers took a 3–1 lead, the Magic never recovered. Los Angeles closed things out in five games.
John Paxson’s Game 6 3-pointer in 1993
June 20, 1993: John Paxson hits the game-winning three-pointer in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The Bulls would beat the Suns 99-98 and win their 3rd straight title.
pic.twitter.com/TU683iRXqw
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) June 21, 2025
Jordan’s Bulls did not always lean on Michael for the final shot (see Kerr, 1997). In 1993, it was John Paxson who buried the Suns. Phoenix led late in Game 6, on the verge of forcing a Game 7 at home. The Bulls pushed the ball, swung it around the arc and found Paxson open for a top-of-the-key three with 3.9 seconds left.
The shot flipped a two-point deficit into a one-point lead that held up when the Suns came up empty on the last possession. That three delivered Chicago’s third straight title and cemented Paxson as one of the archetypal Finals role players who made one play and lived on it forever.
Robert Horry’s Game 5 3-pointer in 2005
Robert Horry, aka Big Shot Bob, earned his nickname in Houston and Los Angeles, but the peak version might have come in San Antonio with the Spurs. Game 5 of the 2005 Finals in Detroit went to overtime tied at 89. With the Spurs down two late in OT, Horry spaced to the wing, got the kick-out from Manu Ginobili, and buried a 3-pointer that gave San Antonio a one-point lead with 5.8 seconds remaining.
The Pistons had a final chance, but the Spurs got the stop, grabbed a 3–2 series lead. They eventually closed it out in seven. Horry’s three was not at the horn, but as a practical matter it decided the game and, arguably, the series.
Jerry West’s half-court heave in 1970
Jerry West’s 60-foot heave in Game 3 of the 1970 Finals is the closest thing to a pure miracle on this list. The Los Angeles Lakers trailed the New York Knicks by two in the final seconds. West launched from beyond midcourt and banked in a shot that tied the game at the buzzer.
The irony is that the shot did not win the game. The Knicks recovered and took the win in overtime on their way to a seven-game series victory. That limits how high it can land in a ranking based on last-second winners, but you cannot talk about Finals shots without mentioning it. It changed how teams thought about the end of games, even in a world without threes.