If you have been sweating watching the New York Knicks the last few games, it is probably not due to the heat wave in New York alone. These games have been unusually close.
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The series between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs — which the Knicks lead 3-1 after the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history on Wednesday — has been the closest finals matchup since 2016, with the average margin of victory coming in at only 4.0 points through the series’ first four games.
Since 2016, no other finals series has had an average margin of victory of less than 7.5 points.
Every tilt between the Spurs and Knicks has come down to the wire. All four games meet the NBA’s definition of a clutch game, which means the score has been within 5 points with five minutes or fewer left in the fourth quarter.
NBC News analyzed Sports Reference NBA Finals scores data and calculated the average margin of victory across finals series.
