Knicks' support of Josh Hart an example of why they're on brink of first NBA championship in 53 years

SAN ANTONIO — Every viral video angle of OG Anunoby’s already iconic game-winning basket in Game 4 of the NBA Finals focuses on his magical run through the paint and his impossibly athletic tip-in.

But 94 feet away, standing nearly under the basket on the other end of the floor with a towel around his neck, was Josh Hart, out of the game for the Knicks’ last-chance offensive possession and hoping for someone to save him.

It’s the thin line in sports between celebrations and heartbreak, and while the San Antonio Spurs had to find their way off the court through the wild, jubilant crowd pouring onto the floor, Hart jumped nearly as high as Anunoby did, pumping his fist in the air.

And maybe that helps explain how the Knicks found themselves on the verge of their first title in 53 years on Saturday night.

Nearly an hour after the Knicks’ 107-106 victory in Game 4 at the Garden, Hart hugged Anunoby as they crossed paths on their way in and out of postgame media sessions.

Just moments before that, Hart had sat on the stage and said, “I’ve got a special shout-out for OG, man, because he saved me, at least for this game, a lifetime of regret. So yeah, man, shout-out to him.”

Hart knew that as much as he had done to help lift the Knicks to this place — he’s the glue of a team that had gone from dysfunctional for decades to a hard-working contender that had captured the hearts of the city — he was facing a moment on the wrong side of history.

Caught between a dunk and a layup, he missed a contested fast-break layup with 1:57 left that could have given the Knicks the lead. Then, after Jalen Brunson did put the Knicks ahead, Hart got caught up while focusing on Victor Wembanyama, missed a box-out and fouled Stephon Castle, whose two free throws gave the Spurs a 106-105 lead with 30.3 seconds left.

So while the fans felt joy after Anunoby’s tip-in, Hart felt it, too, but it was mixed with a little bit of relief. Maybe a lot of relief.

After he missed the potential go-ahead layup, there was a foul on the other end and Hart fell to the floor. He sat there for a moment, seemingly struggling to come to terms with what had happened as the Knicks attempted to make a historic comeback from a 29-point third-quarter deficit.

Maybe it wasn’t as iconic an image as Anunoby’s tip-in, but what transpired next might be a better reflection of how this team got to this place.

Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado rushed over to Hart and not only extended a hand to lift him up but also implored him not to worry about a mistake, that they were still together.

“Oh, man, it’s been invaluable,” Hart said. “I think you can look at the play, I missed the layup . . . I miss, and we come down and foul Wemby. I think I fouled him or KAT fouled him or whatever [Anunoby fouled him], and I ended up on the ground. I was frustrated and kind of down on myself. You see JB, KAT, Jose run up to me and pick me up. You see Landry [Shamet] on the bench yelling at me to get up and those kinds of things.

“When you have a team that has that kind of togetherness in the most adverse situations, that breeds championship habits and a championship team. I feel like we can go down the line of every guy in that locker room that has had moments like that during the season, and everyone has been there to pick each other up. When you have a team that can do that, no matter what happens in a game, you feel like you can get through it.”

Some of this comes from experience, the ups and downs of a long season and, dating back further, the disappointment of being eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Some comes from the roots that Brunson, Hart and Mikal Bridges have, winning a title together at Villanova. If there is a common theme with this team, it has been that they don’t give in, don’t focus on a play gone wrong. They switch to the next-play mentality, lifting each other and pushing onward.

In the play-by play era (since 1996-97), there have been 738 instances in which a playoff team has trailed by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter, and only five times has a team come back to win. Two of those were supplied by this Knicks team, which battled back from 22 down in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to beat Cleveland and erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit on Wednesday night.

“I talk about our unity, our connectivity,” Towns said. “We just continue to believe in each other and believe in our team, our game plan. Whatever needs to be adjusted in the game, us as players will always talk it out, and we’re willing to have those conversations that are difficult. We’re willing to keep each other accountable.

“Regardless of what happens, we know, like I said, we all we got and we all we need, and it’s more than enough to have a chance to win every single night. I know a lot of people talk about it. I know you’ve heard a ton of people come up on this mic and say the same thing, but I hope our team shows the world that we truly mean it. Even though last year we didn’t get the job done, that unity and that connectivity and that continuity has always shown itself.

“I think that last game is just another example of us talking about how connected we are together and how much we truly do have love for each other as teammates, as a team, as brothers, as a family. Only brothers would keep each other going, especially in the game where it was last game. Because of that family, family stays close. When things got really bad, we got closer. We didn’t start fading away from each other.”

The Knicks picked up Hart, literally and figuratively, just as they have picked up each other throughout the season and throughout this magical postseason run.

“In an 82-game season, especially in New York, you know, there’s going to be mountains and valleys,” Hart said. “If we win three or four in a row, you know, you’re the best team in the league. If you lose three or four in a row, everybody is on the trade block. We know that and that’s why during the course of a season, you try to stay even and you try to continue to build those habits, championship habits, that put you in that position at the end of the year.

“And that’s what you focus on. Sometimes it’s not about the result; it’s about the process. You know, every game, every second, every practice of the season, it led us to this point.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.