If this ‘shade tree’ screenwriter had submitted last night’s Knicks game as a script, a development executive might have sent it back with a note:

“We do sports movies, not fantasies.”

Down by twenty-nine, clawed back, down one. Seven seconds remaining. The World’s Most Famous Arena holding its collective breath.

Then came the greatest offensive rebound a basketball fan will ever see. OG Anunoby out of nowhere…!!! This after he blocked a shot at the other end.

The Knicks’ 107-106 victory over San Antonio wasn’t simply a basketball game. It was a perfectly structured third act; all is lost, climax, denouement, the whole bit.

Every great story needs stakes. This NBA Finals has provided plenty. No Knicks title since 1973 helps in upping the stakes. Every great story needs conflict. The Spurs have supplied that in abundance – young, super-talented athletes who play hard.

Most importantly, every great story needs uncertainty. For three quarters and deep into the fourth, the Spurs looked like a sure win to tie the series. All was lost for the Knicks…

That’s why sports remain the last truly unscripted drama.

In an age of algorithms and artificial intelligence, there is still no substitute for genuine suspense. Nobody at MSG knew the ending. Nobody watching at home could skip ahead to read ‘Fade to Black.’

For a few moments, millions of people experienced the same thing at exactly the same time.

As a screenwriter (aspiring as I am), I hope readers (producers, studio execs, agents) keep turning the pages of my scripts because they genuinely can’t figure out what will happen next.

The game last night included the kind of ending every screenwriter wishes they could write.

Go Knicks!