That’s how you start the conference finals.
Last night delivered an absolute classic, in which Victor Wembanyama delivered a masterclass to send the Spurs past the Thunder in overtime, 122–115. While that game was a back-and-forth affair, Game 1 of Knicks vs. Cavaliers looked like a blowout for basically all of the third quarter and much of the fourth.
And then Jalen Brunson happened.
The New York superstar put together a fourth-quarter run for the ages, and one of the great performances of an NBA playoffs that has been chock full of incredible outings. However things end for this Knicks team, Brunson continues to build his legacy as an all-time great New York superstar.
Here are our key takeaways from a dramatic Knicks win in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
Knicks found a way to win with historic fourth-quarter comeback
The Cavaliers led the Knicks by 22 points with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. After that, New York finished the game on an incredible 44–11 run. It was an epic collapse by the Cavs, but Jalen Brunson absolutely took over down the stretch and the Cleveland defense couldn’t do anything to stop him. He finished with 38 points and six assists, with 17 of those points coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Brunson wildly outscored the Cavs 17–11 by himself over the final 12:49 of the game.
Landry Shamet was huge off the bench for New York as he made a clutch three-pointer to tie the game with less than a minute left in regulation and then he hit one more in overtime to open the Knicks’ lead to nine and force Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson into a timeout as the game slipped away. At one point, the Knicks were just 2-for-21 from three-point range as a unit in what initially looked like an off game after a long layoff following their sweep of the 76ers. From there, however, the New York offense went 8-for-11 from deep as the Knicks heated up at the final possible moment they could to come out on top.
The 22-point comeback is the largest playoff deficit erased in franchise history and it’s also the second largest fourth-quarter comeback by any team in the play-by-play era. Heading into the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks were rolling at a historic rate. It looked like they may have come down to earth for the great majority of Game 1, but what followed was a signature win that somehow matched the excitement from the wild start to the Western Conference finals on Monday night.
Cavaliers squander big night from Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell was great over the course of the game until the Knicks took over in the final half of the second quarter and overtime. The New York native scored 29 points and hit four threes with a whopping six steals on the other end of the floor in one of his best defensive games in recent memory.
The performance follows his big night in Sunday’s Game 7 to eliminate the Pistons. Cleveland went to seven games in each of its first two series and there was an inherent worry that the group would be gassed against the Knicks, who were the hottest team left entering the conference finals. That was quickly dismissed as Mitchell had 26 points through three quarters and the Cavs took a 14-point lead into the fourth that they quickly opened up to 22. Mitchell scored just three points in the fourth quarter in overtime as the Knicks and Brunson went on the enormous run.
Sam Merrill was big off the bench once again and gave the Cavs a real shot to survive with a win at the end of regulation, but his deep three went in and out and the Knicks were able to carry their momentum throughout overtime. No matter how good Cleveland and Mitchell were through three quarters, Tuesday’s loss was deflating as any you’ll ever see. The Cavs had a golden opportunity to steal Game 1 on the road, which fell through the cracks in an epic way.
Cleveland struggled on the road to start the postseason as it didn’t get its first win away from home until Game 5 in the series with Detroit. The Cavs took Games 5 and 7 in Detroit to put to rest the bugaboo about playing away from Rocket Arena. Winning on the road is important in any series, especially one where you don’t have home court advantage. After such a drastic collapse, you have to wonder how heavy the loss will hang in the locker room. Cleveland has just one day between games again to brush it off and try to get one at Madison Square Garden before the Eastern Conference finals heads to the Midwest.
Despite the Knicks’ shift towards running the offense through KAT, this is still Jalen Brunson’s team
The Knicks’ postseason fortunes changed after they fell down 2–1 against the Hawks in the first round. It was at that point that coach Mike Brown began running his offense through Karl-Anthony Towns in the middle, making the big man a playmaker and distributor. It worked like a charm against Atlanta and the 76ers, and New York dominated in six consecutive games.
The Cavaliers appeared to have the new-look New York attack figured out early in Game 1. Towns really struggled, scoring just 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He did grab 13 rebounds and had five assists but turned it over seven times, being pestered by Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen throughout the game. His last bucket came with 6:25 left in the fourth quarter, when the Knicks trailed by 15, 93–78.
It was right around that time that New York began one of the greatest comebacks imaginable, forcing overtime and finishing on an outrageous 40–11 run. And it wasn’t KAT, but the team’s true superstar, guard Jalen Brunson, who was at the center of it all.
Brunson carried New York to the finish line, knocking down 8-of-9 fourth quarter shots while dealing out four assists in the fourth quarter and overtime. He scored 17 of his 38 total points in those final two frames after largely being outdueled by Mitchell through much of the game, and reminded everyone that he is capable of going supernova at any moment. James Harden won’t enjoy revisiting the Brunson comeback highlight reel, as he found himself on the wrong end of the Knicks’ star’s theatrics over and over again.
The Cavaliers showed they had a solid gameplan to counter what the Knicks had done to dominate Atlanta and Philly, and as long as they’re able to put this game in the past, they can compete in this series. New York will need more vintage KAT moving forward. But the Knicks showed they have plenty of ways to win, even after starting a game as cold as possible, and that is a scary sign for Cleveland … and the two remaining teams out West.
Miss Tuesday’s incredible Game 1? Relive all the action with our live updates below.
NBA playoffs live updates, stats from Knicks vs. Cavaliers Game 1
How we got here...
The Knicks and Cavaliers have taken wildly different paths to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
New York has not played a competitive game of basketball in more than a week, having swept the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs. While they needed six games to dispatch the Hawks in the first round, that number isn’t indicative of just how dominant the Knicks have been recently—since going down 2–1 to Atlanta, they have won seven straight games, six of which came by double digits.
The Knicks enter the conference finals extremely well rested, and hungry to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have had to scrap and claw their way through two seven-game series to open the postseason, with the Raptors and Pistons both forcing decisive Game 7s in the first and second round respectively. Cleveland has won both of those do-or-die games by a combined 43 points, with Donovan Mitchell showing up when his team needed him most against the Pistons.
The Cavaliers are more battle tested so far this postseason, but they are also just two days removed from their most recent Game 7 win against Detroit, while the Knicks have been resting for more than a week. Cleveland will be fighting an uphill battle against both a tough Knicks squad and its own endurance at the Garden on Tuesday.
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