In game one of the Eastern Conference Finals, it looked like the Cavaliers might be on their way to a road win and a 1-0 lead in the series. However, Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks had other plans, plans to orchestrate the largest comeback in NBA Postseason history.
It looked like the Knicks had simply run out of gas after running through their first two opponents with ease to get to the conference finals. Nothing was happening for the Knicks through the first 40 minutes of gameplay, they had scored 23-points in all three quarters and been outscored by double-digits in two of those, and at one point were trailing 93-71.
The game flipped when the Knicks went on an 18-1 run to flip the game back into contention and the momentum back into New York’s favor. The late run knotted the game back up at 101 apiece and forced overtime, but the numbers were pretty astonishing. Outside of the 18-1 run, the Knicks outscored the Cavs 44-11 towards the end of regulation which all culminated to an NBA postseason record comeback. But the job was not finished.
The Knicks opened up the OT period on a 9-0 run essentially putting the Cavaliers away and putting the Knicks fans in a frenzy. The Cavs were only able to muster three total points in the extra period as the Knicks went on to win 115-104 and take a 1-0 lead in the series. They were 4 for 23 on 3-pointers through three quarters and then had a horrible start to the fourth. But this comes a year after giving up a 14-point lead in the final minutes of regulation and losing to Indiana in OT in Game 1 of the conference finals on their home court.
The Knicks now sit just three wins away from their first NBA Finals since 1999.
Mikal Bridges added 18 points and three Knicks scored 13, including OG Anunoby, who came on late after struggling most of the way. Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 29-points in the loss.
“But it was our defense that has always been special in these playoffs and that has carried us in this playoffs, that showed up in the fourth quarter and in overtime,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It allowed us to be sitting here with a win against a really great team.”
“That can’t happen. But it did,” Mitchell said. “We play in two days. We can’t sit here and let it kill our momentum, kill what we’ve been doing. It’s not a good loss.”
Game two of this finals series will take place Thursday night at 7:00 PM CT on ESPN.
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