A Knicks Miracle (and an All-Time Spurs Collapse), a Mini-Mailbag, and a World Cup Preview | With Joe House, Kirk Goldsberry, Anthony Dabbundo, and Cousin Sal

**Bill Simmons** (0:00)
This episode is brought to you by HubSpot. You know why elite point guards make everyone better? It isn't just the no-look dimes. It's because they know everything. Who's hot? Who's tired? What the defense is doing? Which teammate needs a basket? Most businesses don't have that. Sales run one play, marketing runs another. Nobody told service. The game plan has now changed. HubSpot gives you that point guard vision, one platform, full customer context. And that context is everything you need to win. Visit hubspot.com to learn more.
This episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast is presented by PayPal. You know a clutch move and you see one, a no-look pass, a buzzer beater, a big steal? Well, imagine if your wallet could pull off moves like that. That, my friends, is PayPal. Right now, you can find offers from hundreds of brands like Sony, Allbirds and Viator, and save offers before you check out. Earn unlimited rewards. Plus, you can add those rewards on top of credit card points.
Now, that is Clutch. Download the PayPal app today. Save those offers. Start scoring rewards. Terms and exclusions apply. See paypal.com/rewardsterms, credit card points subject to issuers, terms, and conditions.
The Bill Simmons Podcast, we are live on Netflix.
Following game four of Spurs-Knicks, Kirk Goldsberry is here, Joe House is here. That is the single biggest choke job I've ever witnessed in an NBA, important NBA game, combined with one of the best comebacks I've ever seen in an NBA game. And House, I don't know where to start, except I kept thinking Falcons 28 Patriots 3, as I was watching that collapse. Not to bring a Boston team into this, but when-

**Joe House** (2:24)
Oh, not to bring a Boston team into this.

**Bill Simmons** (2:26)
When Wembee missed those two free throws, it was like, wow, we're really doing this. They score 30 points in the second half, they blow a 29 point lead, and they still have a chance to end the game with less than six seconds left. They get a terrible Brunson 30 footer that over Wembee, but OG comes in, gets the tip.
Wait, House, biggest basketball choke you've ever seen? Is that it?

**Joe House** (2:51)
It has to be it because of the circumstances, because the raw data tells it's the biggest comeback in NBA finals history.
And I felt like it was a perfect expression of exactly this Spurs team, which is first half, the youthful exuberance. They're playing loose, they're playing free, they have absolutely nothing to lose, they can't miss. And the second half, they score 30 total points. I think KG, before we went live, said they had eight field goals total in the second half. Exactly what a young team under these circumstances, who hasn't been through the gauntlet, comes out and just a little bit tight, then it's contagious. The whole team is tight. And Wemby, some of the observation coming into this game was, when the turnaround is this short, he tends to, you can see some of the fatigue still on that man and the shooting percentage reflected at him. He ended up...

**Bill Simmons** (3:58)
9 for 25, missing free throws.

**Joe House** (4:00)
With a slow of Mitch Johnson.

**Bill Simmons** (4:01)
Here's the thing, though, House. 43 minutes for Wemby.
Kirk, I thought Mitch Johnson, he was keeping Wemby in there.
Remember, he rested him for like 50 seconds, brought him back in. And I think the thinking was, let's go for the kill. Let's get this, let's get this now. And if we're winning double figures, he's not gonna play the last four or five minutes anyway. He wilted at one point. I think he missed 10 of 11 shots down the stretch. He missed two monster free throws. And then combined with everything else that was coming back in this comeback in stages, which we'll cover, Fox gets the steal with 10 seconds left up one because Brunson throws it away, gets tapped out. And Fox is with OG behind him.

**Kirk Goldsberry** (4:42)
Yeah.

**Bill Simmons** (4:43)
And you just have to fake like you're laying up and dribble it out and try to kill some time and shoot some free throws. He goes for the layup, OG blocks it, and then it's basically the hero on both ends. This is one of the most heroic end of the game things that we've ever seen in a finals game. But who, when the Spurs look back at this, who are they going to blame?

**Kirk Goldsberry** (5:05)
Themselves, I think they, remember this is the same team that broke the record for most threes in the first half. They were red hot. That's why this story is so crazy, Bill. It's like they went from the hottest shooting team we'd ever seen in a finals game to maybe the coldest. I haven't had time to look it up.