Basketball is a sport set up for bad beats.
With 3-pointers in play, and the ball moving up and down the court quickly, betting lines can quickly be crushed by a late flourish.
But even with that in mind, the end of the San Antonio Spurs' game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday was quite brutal.
The Spurs were favored at most books by 3.5 points.
With less than 10 seconds to play, the Spurs held a 134-129 lead, a five-point edge.
The Knicks fired up a 3, but it missed, and Keldon Johnson grabbed the rebound for San Antonio.
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It looked like the clock would run out, but Knicks star Jalen Brunson wasn't given up yet. The lefty raced over, swiped the ball from Johnson and chucked up a difficult, fading 3-pointer from the corner.
And Brunson made it as time expired.
From a five-point lead to a 134-132 win for the Spurs. An immense backdoor cover by the Knicks, and a terrible beat for Spurs bettors.
One of the nastiest beats of the season.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 1, 2026
Spurs -3.5 pic.twitter.com/wF2n1HKcaP
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The craziest part of this game is that the Spurs were never close to covering.
They trailed 106-92 early in the fourth quarter when Victor Wembanyama left the game with an injury. He didn't return.
Despite that, they rallied furiously to take the lead, and even to have the line covered with mere seconds left and the ball in their own hands.
But this late steal and shot by Brunson ruined that.
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