The New York Knicks, fueled by 38 points from Jalen Brunson, on Tuesday erased a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-104 in overtime in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
The Knicks looked done for when they trailed 93-71 with 7 minutes, 52 seconds left in regulation time, but Brunson spearheaded an 18-1 New York run and banked in a floater to tie it at 101-101 with 19.3 seconds left.
When Cleveland’s Sam Merrill missed a three-pointer, they went to the extra session — in which the Knicks scored the first nine points.
Brunson said that he did not know how the Knicks had pulled off the sensational comeback.
“I don’t have an answer for you,” he told broadcaster ESPN. “We got some stops. We kept fighting, kept believing, just kept chipping away. They were playing great basketball and we just found a way.”
Mikal Bridges added 18 points, and OG Anunoby, back from a two-game injury absence, was one of three Knicks players with 13.
Photo: AFP
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points to lead the Cavaliers and James Harden added 15.
The Knicks have a chance to double their lead in the best-of-seven series, as they are set to host Game 2 today.
The series winners face either defending champions the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs in the championship series.
Photo: AP
The Spurs, fueled by a 41-point performance by Victor Wembanyama, beat the Thunder in double-overtime in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday.
It is the first time in NBA history that the first games in both conference finals have been decided in overtime.
Rust might have played a role in a sluggish Knicks start. New York had been off for nine days after sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers were battle tested if not rested, having polished off a second straight seven-game series with a triumph against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
A three-pointer by Mitchell saw Cleveland emerge from a back-and-forth first half with a 48-46 lead and the Cavaliers pulled away relentlessly in the second half as the Madison Square Garden crowd looked on in stunned, silent disbelief.
However, they were celebrating wildly by night’s end as the Knicks moved one step closer to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
They reached the conference finals last year, but were beaten by the Indiana Pacers.
The Cavaliers are in the conference finals for the first time since 2018, when they were led by LeBron James.
Harden, 36, is back in the penultimate round for the first time since his 2018 Most Valuable Player season with Houston, when the Rockets fell in seven games to the Golden State Warriors.
It was a crushing welcome to the conference finals for seven-time All-Star Mitchell, who never made it past the second round in five post-season appearances with the Utah Jazz.
“We should have won the game,” Mitchell said. “We’re up 22 with God knows how much time? Eight minutes? Gotta win the game. We didn’t.”
However, there is still plenty of time to regroup, he added.
“It’s one game,” Mitchell said. “We could have lost by 40, still would have been 1-0. We played pretty solid for three quarters or so. We’ll make adjustments and go from there.”
In Los Angeles, the Dallas Mavericks said that they are “parting ways” with head coach Jason Kidd in a decision agreed by both parties.
“The Dallas Mavericks announced today that the team has mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Jason Kidd,” an article posted on the team’s Web site said. “The organization will immediately begin a comprehensive search for its next head coach.”
Kidd has been at the helm in Dallas for five seasons, reaching the Western Conference finals in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2024 under his guidance, but a 26-56 campaign, in the Mavs’ first full season since they traded Slovenian star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February last year, spelled the end of his tenure.
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