Category: NBA

A few notes from the Knicks’ remarkable Game 1 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday... 

HARD TO BELIEVE

The Knicks were down by 22 points with 7:50 to go in the fourth quarter. That’s when Jalen Brunson went to work on James Harden. 

Brunson scored 15 points in the final seven minutes, hitting seven of his last eight shots. His primary defender during several of those possessions? James Harden. 

Brunson abused the entire Cavs defense – and Harden in particular – down the stretch in the fourth quarter. 

At one point in overtime, Brunson had scored or assisted on 23 of the Knicks’ last 32 points. This was Brunson at his best, picking apart the Cavs defense. Landry Shamet and Mikal Bridges both buried good looks from beyond the arc, thanks to Brunson’s gravity. 

“Sometimes you gotta do what the game dictates,” Mike Brown said of targeting Harden in the fourth quarter. “They were trying to do the same thing with Jalen. And so we said, OK, we feel like we can play that game. We try not to play that game much, but we feel like we have a guy that we can play that game with in Jalen. 

“And just like we have to try to figure out different ways to guard Harden and [Donovan] Mitchell, they gotta figure out different ways to guard Jalen. But there’s no secret we were attacking Harden.”

Harden was just as bad on the other end of the floor. He went 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter. You’d have to think Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson will adjust this strategy in Game 2. It was a big part of New York’s historic comeback on Tuesday night. 

CHESS MATCH

Another key decision in the fourth quarter? Brown going to Shamet. The Knicks coach initially went away from Shamet in Game 1. But with the Knicks down 14, he called Shamet’s number. He put Shamet, OG Anunoby, Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns around Brunson. It’s not often that Brunson is surrounded by shooters. But he was on Tuesday night. And it was a significant factor in New York’s historic comeback. 

“We found a group of five guys that went out there, ended up getting stops and scoring the basketball,” Brown said. 

They also defended well, holding Cleveland to a combined 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Shamet’s defense on Mitchell was key. 

Will Brown go back to this lineup in Game 2? Maybe. Will he go away from using Towns as a hub? Probably not. One thing Brown made clear after Game 1: he isn't going to abandon Josh Hart, who sat for the final 9:59 of regulation before entering for defense with the Knicks up nine in overtime.

“If Josh is open and his feet are set, he’s gotta let it fly. He’s made shots. We feel like he’s gonna make shots,” Brown said after the game. “And if he doesn’t wanna shoot it, he can get to his middy or he can go [dribble handoff] with somebody, a quick DHO with somebody. We faced this coverage all year and we played well throughout the course of the year and we faced it in Atlanta. 

"So, we started the game off 2-for-19 from the three-point line. It wasn’t just Josh. We had some pretty good looks from the right people, and if those go in, the mojo is a little bit different. They didn’t, and Cleveland was able to get back into it. The game is about adjustments. We made an adjustment down the stretch, and we were fortunate to be able to come back and get the win.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers fumbled a prime opportunity to steal Game 1 on the road. They crumbled at the end, blowing a 22-point lead in history fashion.

Let’s go over today’s winners and losers.

LOSER – Big Jim Harden

James Harden just had perhaps the worst individual defensive performance in NBA Playoff history. Seriously, it was historically bad. Harden was targeted eight times in isolation during the fourth quarter, something that has only happened 30 times in the history of the NBA’s tracking data (including regular-season games since 2013).

Harden gave up more points per possession in those situations than anyone, ever.

The Knicks had an absolute feast courtesy of Harden.

Jalen Brunson hunted him in a switch that came far too easily from the Cavs. I can blame Kenny Atkinson for that. It’s inexplicable that the Cavs allowed this to happen as many times as it did without an adjustment.

Still, you have to do more than swipe at the ball and get torched any time you turn your hips.

Harden had no chance in these isolations. He’s an upright defender who can only hold his own when someone tries to outmuscle him. A game that’s predicated on craft and shiftiness is going to beat him every time. Brunson took advantage of that and delivered on a massive comeback.

That wasn’t all, however. Harden finished with more turnovers than made field goals for the sixth time this postseason. An unimaginable stat that has contributed to some of Cleveland’s ugliest losses. The margin for error is too tight for Harden to play like this.

Even a 22-point cushion wasn’t enough to cover it up.

LOSER – Prevent Offense

The Cavs, as I’m sure you’ve heard, had a 22-point lead with 7 minutes remaining. That’s bordering on garbage time. But this is the Eastern Conference Finals. And… we’re in an era of parity and three-point variance. You can’t take your foot off the gas.

Those days are gone. You have to sprint through the finish line or risk a collapse. You saw what happened when the Cavs tried to jog.

As much as we crushed Harden for his defense — an equally bad thing occurred on the other end of the floor.

Cleveland’s offense, which diced the Knicks all night long for quality looks, abruptly went away from everything that was working.

No more ball movement.

The bigs? Forget ‘em.

Let’s not even bother going into the paint, actually

What if we just dribbled for an entire possession? That would waste a lot of time.

Let’s dribble for two full possessions.

What if we dribble for every possession?

Can we just dribble for the final seven minutes? Will they end the game if we keep dribbling?

The Cavs played ‘prevent’ offense down the stretch. Grinding themselves to a halt by trying to burn the clock. Each possession waned until the final seconds of the shot clock, which then only left the Cavs with an opportunity to run one action before hoisting a shot.

That’s how you blow a 22-point lead.

Donovan Mitchell and Harden deserve blame for this. Kenny Atkinson, as well. There’s no excuse for making a mistake that has burned many teams before them. This team has overcome enough obstacles to understand what works and what doesn’t. In no world does this team win games by letting go of the rope and drastically changing their approach in the final minutes.

WINNER – Defending the KAT action

Alright, let’s talk about some positives.

I truly believe the Cavs did lots of great things in this game. After all, that lead didn’t appear out of thin air. The Cavs played lights out through three quarters, looking like the more focused and physical team. We know that didn’t last — but there’s one thing that remains a win for Cleveland.

The Cavs neutralized point-KAT.

New York had found success using Karl-Anthony Towns as an offensive hub. They’d set him up above the arch, forcing opposing rim protectors to vacate the paint and defend him outside as he poses too much of a shooting threat to leave alone. After successfully drawing out the big — KAT would set up shop and allow his teammates to screen for each other. Someone would slip to the rim or cause a breakdown, and KAT would handle the rest with his playmaking.

This has led to the Knicks posting some absurd scoring games in the playoffs with KAT dishing out over 7 assists per game.

However, the Cavs are especially equipped to handle this.

Evan Mobley defended Towns and got all up into his airspace. He didn’t allow KAT to put the ball on the floor and made it difficult for him to access passing lanes.

Meanwhile, Jarrett Allen ignored Josh Hart in the corner and instead roamed the paint to clean up any slippage from the backcourt. Allen was the safety, ensuring no one could get into the paint without seeing a shot blocker.

This dynamic sets Cleveland apart as they are the only team New York has played that has two rim-protecting bigs who can handle KAT as an offensive hub. As a result, KAT finished with just 13 points on 14 shots to go with 7 turnovers to only 5 assists.

This is a winning formula for the Cavs. It’s something that gave New York fits, and they can replicate it on any given night.

NEW YORK — As exultant fans leaked slowly back out into an unseasonably warm night in the city, the New York Knicks players huddled briefly near midcourt and embraced each other.

Just minutes earlier, this building had been dazed, silent. That was before Jalen Brunson carried his teammates and this city to an improbable comeback in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Knicks frantically erased a 22-point fourth quarter deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime, 115-104, Tuesday, May 19 to position themselves three victories away from the NBA Finals.

It was the second largest comeback in the fourth quarter of a postseason game since 1997, the start of the play-by-play era.

Here are takeaways from the Knicks’ victory Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals:

He worked his magic!

A Voodoo King delivered a clutch assist ahead of the Knicks’ wild Tuesday night comeback win, conducting a spiritual cleanse to quell fears from fans that Mayor Zohran Mamdani would bring his “Curse of the Mambino” to Madison Square Garden.

Michael Washington, 46, who goes by the name Tata Tilk, arrived outside the world’s most famous arena just in the nick of time, performing a Palo Mayombe spell about an hour before the Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 tip-off.

“I command thee for no more spells from Mayor Mamdani on any team or anyone that interfere with their success. I’m here to protect the Knicks from his malevolent magic,” Washington chanted outside the arena where the Knicks eventually pulled off a miraculous victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He was originally summoned to MSG after Hizzoner hinted earlier in the day that he would attend the game.

“It is an incredible run. I am, like every New Yorker, just continuing to hope. Maybe I will be there, we’ll see, but I’m definitely watching,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference.

The mayor’s remarks created paranoia amongst fans after the lefty mayor’s hug with Mr. and Mrs. Met was blamed for the team’s brutal losing streak, dubbed the “Curse of the Mambino.”

The “Voodoo King” brought a cauldron full of “secret” spiritual items — including human and animal bones and meteorites — for his witchcraft.

He told The Post that Mamdani has proven he has “magical abilities” to curse New York sports teams and should stay far away from the Knicks.

“He’s basically showing the magic abilities that he has through cursing an entire team, in other words, multiple people, like multiple counterparts, like all at once,” he explained.

“It was a spell to basically not have Mamdani curse the Knicks, because we were nervous about him coming tonight, and he might possibly curse the Knicks, so I did the match for it,” Washington added of his ritual. “He wouldn’t be able to curse the Knicks, so no Mambino curses here.”

And the witchcraft might’ve just worked.

The Knicks staged an improbable 115-104 overtime win over the Cavaliers — overcoming a harrowing 22-point fourth-quarter deficit.

The team’s stunning comeback is the largest in a Conference Finals game since 1997, according to the NBA.

Since 1997, the only larger fourth-quarter comeback to win any playoff game is the Clippers’ 24-point rally against the Grizzlies in Game 1 of the 2012 First Round.

Kareem “Reemo Meerak” Tyson, 46, thanked the Voodoo King for staving off any of the socialists’ sorcery before the epic win.

“Listen, Mamdani, listen, you’ve been doing an amazing job, respectful, respectful. You cannot ruin our flow. You see what you did with the other orange and blue, and that’s not cool. Okay, that’s not cool. It’s gonna lose you brownies for us,” Tyson, a social media personality from Harlem, said.

“I feel amazing. Thank God. Thank you [Voodoo King] for what you’ve been doing so far for protection.”

A group of friends, Nick Ellard, James Questel, and Aidan Jordan, also gathered outside the arena to watch the game — and made their feelings about the Mamdani curse crystal clear.

“I’d love him to stay as far away from the team as possible,” said Jordan, a 20-year-old college student from Long Island.

“Don’t hug anybody. Tell him to pay for some waters for everybody,” Elleard, 20, added.

Madison Square Garden went electric when the Knicks’ customary spark went out.

As the Knicks mounted a miraculous 22-point comeback to steal a 115-104 overtime win over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Josh Hart was glued to the bench for nearly the entire fourth quarter and the extra session due to his shaky shooting, as Mike Brown turned to Landry Shamet down the stretch.

Shamet validated the decision by hitting a game-tying corner 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation, then added another in overtime, finishing with a team-best plus-20 rating.

Hart, who finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists, posted a team-worst minus-23 rating in 30 minutes after making just one of five 3-pointers, but the aesthetics were worse than the numbers.

Hart was efficient when he attacked the paint, repeatedly beating Cleveland with a series of spin moves, but the streaky shooter received no respect from Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, whose defenders slouched off him on the perimeter.

Hart missed each of his first four 3-pointers — one barely grazed the rim, another’s flight path barely went above the rim, another hit nothing — as the Knicks missed 17 of their 19 attempted 3-pointers in the first half.

Before the playoffs began, Brown noted he was aware that Hart might be tested despite the 31-year-old making a career-high 41.3 percent of 3-pointers this season. And despite Hart’s benching fueling a historic comeback, the Knicks coach didn’t believe his starter’s confidence should be shaken.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

“If Josh is open, he’s gotta let it fly,” Brown said after the win. “He’s made shots. We feel like he’ll make shots. If he doesn’t want to shoot it, he can get to his middie or [dribble handoff] with somebody. Josh, we faced this coverage all year. And played well throughout the course of the year. And faced it in Atlanta. We started the game off 2-for-19 from the 3-point line. … If those go in, the mojo is a little bit different.”

Three years ago, Hart — who had been acquired in February 2023 — helped the Knicks earn their first postseason series victory in a decade, against the Cavaliers, with extraordinary defense against Donovan Mitchell and 5-for-11 shooting on 3-pointers, including a go-ahead shot from outside in the final minutes of their Game 1 win in Cleveland.

Usually, when Hart goes cold, the Knicks go with him.

In the 2023 second-round loss to No. 8 seed Miami, Hart shot 5-for-21 on 3-pointers. When the Knicks fell apart in the second round against the Pacers in 2024, Hart went 6-for-22 from deep. And last year, Hart shot 2-for-11 in the Knicks’ first conference finals appearance in a quarter century.

In this postseason run, Hart has been a constant on both ends of the floor, filling up every column of the boxscore.

But his shooting has remained erratic.

He was just 5-for-23 from 3-point range in the first round against the Hawks and was 2-for-11 through the first three games against the 76ers, before hitting four of six in the second-round clincher.

The Cavs are certain to return to the one strategy that worked.

“I got to go out there, shoot the ball with confidence,” Hart, who wasn’t available to the media after the win, said recently. “I’m a good shooter, I know I’m a good shooter. I trust my work.”

Madison Square Garden was deflated. The Knicks, down by 22 in the fourth quarter, appeared headed at rapid speed to take a series-defining loss in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight season on Tuesday night.

And then something happened that had never happened before. Per Nate Duncan, teams down 20 in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter of a playoff game were 0-643 in the play-by-play era. 

A 44-11 run by New York over the final 12:55 combined minutes of the fourth and overtime sealed a 115-104 win.

“I gotta give my group credit, they’ve been resilient all year,” head coach MikeBrown said, adding that the Cavaliers to that point were  “shooting the ball well, they were turning us over, they were getting the ball in the pocket, and taking advantage of us.”

“And we just found a way,” Brown said. “We found a group of five guys that went out there, ended up getting stops and scoring the basketball.”

“Obviously,” the head coach continued, “we don’t get it done if Jalen Brunson doesn’t play like one of the MVP guys in the league.”

"He's an amazing player,” OG Anunoby, who added 13 points, said. “I'm happy he's on our team. I think we're all happy he's on our team."

Down 93-71, Brunson scored 15 points, including 11 straight at one point, and added two assists to send the game to OT.

“He was phenomenal,” Brown said.

Brunson said he was "just being in attack mode" during the fourth. 

"Just trying tring to find seams to get to where I could be comfortable," he said. "Finally, one [three] did go down, that's just because of the rhythm I created from the shots beforehand."

The guard started the night by missing his first five three-pointers before he connected from deep to cut the lead to five with 3:30 to play in the fourth 

“Brunson obviously took over at the end,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We started double-teaming him, trying to do some different things… they dominated us in the fourth quarter.”

Donovan Mitchell, who led Cleveland with 29 points, said there was nothing they could do now other than look at the film and get ready for Game 2 on Thursday. 

"He was a little comfortable. We could've done some things collectively, and we didn't, and that's on us," Mitchell said.

For the game, the Knicks' leader finished with 38 points on 15-for-29 shooting with six assists, five rebounds, three steals, and was a plus-15 in 47 minutes.

Atkinson added that he felt the Cavs held Brunson “in check most of the game.”

“Basically, the fourth quarter he got loose,” he said. “We definitely tried to mix up some stuff, throw some stuff at him. We’ll have to keep looking at it. There was a lot of tough floaters, and hit that tough, contested three.” 

At one point late in the game with the Knicks down, Brunson got animated in the huddle. 

“He’s a leader. He’s our guy. And he felt we needed to play faster, he felt we needed to be better defensively,” Brown said. “There were a couple things he felt and he made sure we knew. And our guys responded to him.” 

Brunson said the message in the huddle was to "keep fighting."

"Keep chipping away, we're not gonna get it back in one possession," he said. "Most importantly, sticking together, no matter how that game finished, habits translate; they get transferred to the next game. So just finishing the game strong, regardless of whatever's going on. Making sure everyone has the right habits."

Over the first three quarters, Landry Shamet was on the floor for a grand total of 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

He took one shot, which he missed.

Then, everything changed — for Shamet and the Knicks.

With Josh Hart struggling with his shot and unable to stay with Donovan Mitchell, Mike Brown called on Shamet.

He delivered, providing key two-way play in the Knicks’ thrilling 115-104 overtime victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at the Garden.

“A lot of fun,” he said after the Knicks set a franchise record for a playoff comeback, rallying from 22 points down in the final quarter. “MSG comebacks are fun, especially in the playoffs. I’m just real proud of our group, because that’s quite the deficit in the fourth.”

Shamet was a big part of it.

On one end, the veteran guard hit three key 3-pointers, including one that tied the game with 45 seconds left in regulation.

He also sank a key triple late in overtime that iced the victory, putting the Knicks up nine.

On the other end, Shamet slowed down Mitchell, limiting him to three points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

“One of the luxuries of our team is we have a lot of really good defenders,” Shamet said. “I didn’t really play the first three quarters, and you throw fresh legs at somebody who’s got it going. Just try to come in and compete and be physical, take advantage of the fact that I haven’t played, use the energy I had. Try to compete, communicate and make it hard on him.”

It has been a roller-coaster postseason for Shamet. He was out of the rotation late in the opening-round series against the Hawks and early on against the 76ers — then picked it up when OG Anunoby missed the last two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Tuesday night, he was back on the bench as Anunoby returned. But Shamet stayed ready.

The Landry Shamet 3-pointer from MSG pic.twitter.com/y4ZrpK31HG

— Jared Schwartz (@jschwartz115) May 20, 2026

“He played big time. That’s just who he is. He’s a true professional, ever since he walked into the league,” Jalen Brunson said. “He’s up to any task you put in front of him. He’s been that player, he’s been that player for us. We have utmost faith in him.”

After the win, Shamet was greeted by John Starks, Spike Lee and Ben Stiller. The celebrities wanted to acknowledge the unsung hero of this victory.

“It’s kind of wild when I think about it,” Shamet said.

Kenny Atkinson attempted to explain the rationale for his curious decision-making in the fourth quarter as his Cavaliers watched a 22-point lead disappear.

The Cavaliers coach was ripped by fans and analysts on Tuesday night after the Knicks completed a 115-104 comeback win to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Questions mounted over his decision to call just one timeout while the Knicks went on a 30-8 run in the final quarter, and over why he left James Harden in the game as he got torched by New York. 

The questionable decision to take one timeout amid a catastrophic collapse was a result of Atkinson saying he likes to “hold my timeouts.” 

“I didn’t want to have one timeout at the end of the game. One- or two-point game, I try to hold them,” he bizarrely explained. 

But that wasn’t the only odd response following the Cavs loss. 

Harden’s defense left much to be desired, and Jalen Brunson, who finished with 38 points while leading the Knicks’ comeback, lit up the 36-year-old whenever he guarded him. 

But Atkinson never gave a thought to taking Harden out of the game. 

2 MINUTES AND 45 SECONDS of Jalen Brunson HUNTING James Harden in the 4th and OT pic.twitter.com/SzqflCwZ4j

— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 20, 2026

“He’s been one of our best defenders in these playoffs. I trust him. Smart. Great hands. Didn’t think about that,” the Cavs coach said. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

The Cavaliers will need to regroup after the ugly loss that many have described as a “choke job,” including NBA legend and “Inside the NBA” analyst Charles Barkley. 

“I don’t like to get on TV and say people choked, but that was a damn choke job,” he said on air.

Fellow analyst and NBA great Shaquille O’Neal questioned Atkinson, saying, “I don’t think the coach of the Cavaliers had a great use of timeouts.” 

“He let the lead go from 20 to six and never called a timeout,” Barkley added.  

It was a quarter to remember for Landry Shamet and the Knicks.

Down 22 points to the Cavaliers with less than eight minutes to go in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Shamet helped New York orchestrate their largest comeback victory in franchise playoff history.

While Jalen Brunson exploded for 15 points to lead the comeback, Shamet's defense and clutch shot-making gave the Knicks captain some help in the team's improbable 115-104 victory in overtime on Tuesday night.

"Landry Shamet was great. He was great on both ends of the floor. He came up big," head coach Mike Brown said after the win. "You’re not going to stop a guy like Donovan Mitchell. Landry tried like heck to make him work. He was fantastic. He was the difference in the ballgame tonight on both ends of the floor."

"He played big time," Brunson said of Shamet. "He's up to any task that you put in front of him. He's been that player for us, and we have the utmost faith in him."

The Cavaliers star went for a team-high 29 points, but in the final frame, he scored just three on 1 of 4 shooting thanks to Shamet. 

"He didn’t just change the game with the clutch shots, but defensively bringing energy," Miles McBride said of Shamet. "Getting hands on deflections and picking up full court. Things like that inspires the whole team." 

For Shamet, he credited Game 1's defense on Mitchell on the Knicks' depth. Shamet played just three minutes through the first three quarters -- all in the first half -- so he had the energy to stay with Mitchell in the fourth.

"One of the luxuries of our team is we got a lot of really good primary on-ball, primary off-the-ball defenders. Team defenders," Shamet explained. "I didn’t really play the first three quarters and then you throw fresh legs at someone whose got it going. Just come in try to compete, be physical, take advantage that I didn’t play. Use the energy that I had. That's really it. Compete, communicate, make it hard on him. He's a helluva player.

"We expect him to have a good game against us. Gotta give him his credit, he really hurt us. We have to make adjustments. We were connected, played hard and was physical." 

Although the Knicks applauded Shamet's defense in the fourth quarter, he made some timely shots, including a three-pointer with less than a minute to go that tied the game at 99 apiece. Shamet said he was saying "just stay down" as it rattled around the rim before going through the hoop. 

"I didn’t realize at the time that one would have tied up," Shamet said of the shot. "That's where you kinda want to be. When you're flowing, you don't want to be thinking about things. The ball found me, I was open in transition, let the ball fly and it went in."

Shamet would also make an open three in overtime after Brunson found him, which put the Knicks up nine with 1:49 remaining, and essentially sealed the win for New York. That play embodied Brown's mindset, and when the first-year Knicks coach was asked why he went with Shamet in the fourth, he said he wanted a shooter on the perimeter against the Cavs defense, who play big. And if Cleveland decided to put a bigger defender on Shamet, he would exploit it. 

He also needed to space the floor while Brunson continued to dissect the defense in the paint.

"Defensively, Landry’s a big guard, he’s physical, and he can defend without foul," Brown said. "To play him, knowing they will pack the paint when Jalen comes and the sprays are going to be there. And that’s what we decided to do."

There was a point in the fourth when the team was still down 17 in the fourth and Shamet was visibly trying to fire up his teammates. Shamet said he knew it was a turning point in the game and that they had to go for it.

"If you’re going to make it run, that’s when you have to do it," Shamet said. "Might as well throw your best punch at that point, do what you can. You have to leave it all out there, especially this time of the year. That’s what we did. We have a group that didn’t flinch at the deficit. We made something happen."

The Knicks look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead when they host the Cavs against on Thursday night.

The Knicks won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals in the most inconceivable of fashions, so it’s no surprise their fans were on a high.

But in their exultation outside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, the Knicks faithful might’ve gotten a little too ahead of themselves.

The area outside the Garden is always a party after a Knicks playoff win, and Tuesday night was no different after a 115-104 overtime victory over the Cavaliers. But some Knicks fans were already thinking about an NBA Finals opponent.

"We want Wemby"

Knicks fans outside of MSG tonight pic.twitter.com/ye4Dxcgru6

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) May 20, 2026

Knicks fans outside MSG after OT win! pic.twitter.com/oFOPHqzbF3

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 20, 2026

“We want Wemby!” some fans on the plaza chanted in unison, referring to Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, whose team has a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Thunder.

Some exuberant fans in another chant yelled out, “Knicks in four.”

If the Knicks do end up playing the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, New York does bring in a championship edge over San Antonio from this season. The Knicks beat the Spurs, who were limiting Wembanyama’s minutes, in the NBA Cup final in mid-December.

The two teams split the other two games in the regular season, with each squad winning at home.

But the Knicks will still have to get past a Cavaliers team, which did luck vulnerable after blowing a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell led the way with 29 points, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t pull back any punches after the loss.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

“We lost, we f–king blew it,” he told reporters.

San Antonio would have to get past the defending champion Thunder to make a Knicks-Spurs 1999 NBA Finals rematch happen, too. That series resumes on Wednesday.

I’m speechless. Wordless.

The Knicks closed Game 1 of the conference finals against Cleveland on a 44-11 run, turning a 21-point deficit with less than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter into a 115-104 overtime win, the biggest postseason comeback in franchise history. I’ve seen more than 200 Knick playoff games. I’ve never seen one more dramatic. The game chart literally looks like the map for a three-act drama.

Image credit: nba.com

About ten minutes in, we left the old world (the Cavs getting ahead early) for the new (the Knicks leading most of the rest of the first half. That’s not really “new” in that the Knicks have been leading for weeks, but they haven’t played in over a week, so it’s their newest lead in a while).

Then the long, dark turn from the end of the second act through the third, as multiple forces conspire to pit our hero against impossible odds. The climax: the end of regulation/first few minutes of overtime, as it became clear the Cavs were toast. The lights weren’t too bright this time. They just got punched in the face. Over and over. They couldn’t stop the bleeding.

Very much relatedly, they couldn’t stop Jalen Brunson; even among the sparkling lights of his legendary playoff performances, tonight may go down as the crown jewel. When the Knicks were at their low point, he locked in on attacking James Harden, the Hasabeard and the Cavaliers had no answer for him, and by the time they knew what hit them the Knicks were dribbling out the last seconds of their overtime win.

This wasn’t the scoreboard porn we were spoiled by against Atlanta and Philadelphia, but as dominance goes, 44-11 over a de facto quarter takes a backseat to nobody. Early on Cleveland showed a lot of the good energy they showed winning Sunday in Detroit, but double-digit turnovers by intermission kept them from sustaining anything good.

The Knicks were ahead most of the first half, but for much of the game while players for both teams looked fatigued or rusty, Donovan Mitchell looked shot out of a cannon. Drilling from deep, deflections, dashing out in transition, diming: Spida was weaving his web everywhere.

There’s a bit of a Sinister Six energy to these Cavs. Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are the three villains who come together to plot their revenge against a shared enemy. Max Strus (2023 Heat) and Thomas Bryant (last year’s Pacers) are former villains just down to help bring the pain. Harden looks like a comic book villain; there’s a cartoonish quality to his tattletale ref-baiting brand of ball.

The Cavs began to pull away after halftime, when the Knicks found themselves piling up the giveaways. The hope is make a run late in the third to set up some momentum for the fourth. Reader, they did not.

Could they come out for the final frame all fired up and foaming at the mouths, and run down the non-fake comeback? Thankfully there was no foaming. There was Brunson, lofting his artworks high off glass, draining floaters, finding others. There was Anunoby, in his first action in two weeks, grabbing every defensive rebound in sight. Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet hitting 3 after game-tying 3 after game-clinching 3.

As the game ticked under the eight-minute mark and the Knicks trailed by 22, I did the math in my head: get it down to 12 with four minutes left. That gives you a realistic shot. By the four-minute mark, the Knicks had cut it to eight. And there was no reason to think they were close to finished. The Knicks looked like a bolt of lightning was coursing through all five of them.

If this were a boxing match, the Cavs would have spent the rest of the fight tying the Knicks up and falling into the ropes, begging the ref to help them run out the clock. Mitchell became, if not a pacifist, passive. There was never an inkling of a response from the visitors. Once the Knicks started swinging, the Cavs were a punching bag.

The Knicks did what they had to do, in a manner that will only deepen their self-confidence while challenging the Cavs to re-examine theirs. And since we want our main character to show some kind of growth along the way, here’s a welcome reversal from 2025 (and 2024, for different reasons): the Cavs, 48 hours after a Game 7 in Detroit that capped an every-other-day two week series, used an eight-man rotation for a 53-minute conference final game.

Fresh off eight days off, the Knicks rolled nine-deep, nine-plus counting Jose Alvarado’s short stint out of the bullpen. Something to keep an eye on going forward?

Keep your eye on P&T Wednesday for Russell Richardson’s recap. Till then, I’m gonna sit in my recliner (the one I did not flinch in once Brunson started scoring — I know my role and my superstitious ass plays it well), rewind to the start of the fourth quarter, click “play” and let the magic linger. Long as it likes.

Do Cavaliers fans have Dave Portnoy to blame for their team’s implosion in the fourth quarter as the Knicks defeated Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals? 

Cleveland held an extensive lead when the Barstool Sports founder seemed to tempt fate, posting a sarcastic message on X, telling Knicks fans to “keep your head up.”

“As somebody who won a ton of Eastern Conference finals I want to tell Knicks fans not to give up,” wrote Portnoy, who is a well-known Celtics fan. “That looked like a rust game to me. Plus probably over confident after beating a pathetic Sixers team. Long series. Keep your head up. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. You guys aren’t that good but you can still win this thing. Chin up.”

The Knicks proceeded to go on a stunning run in the final quarter, erasing a 22-point deficit in the final eight minutes before pulling away in overtime for a 115-104 win. 

Portnoy later followed up the post with one noting that the Knicks had gone on an 18-1 run “since this tweet by the way.”

“I’d also like to point that many people would delete the below tweet, but that is not my style. I will own it. Leaders lead. Credit to me for being accountable,” Portnoy later wrote on X.

The Knicks’ miracle kicked off the team’s second consecutive trip to the conference finals after not having reached the series since 2000. 

Dating back to the 1996-97 season, the Knicks were 0-277 when they trailed by at least 22 points in the fourth quarter of a regular season or playoff game prior to Tuesday’s Game 1 win. 

Jalen Brunson finished the game with 38 points as he helped lift the Knicks to victory and a 1-0 series lead. 

Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Cleveland Cavaliers just had a total meltdown in Madison Square Garden. They did a whole lot of great things before the final seven minutes. That will make it hard to grade, so bear with me here.

All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Donovan Mitchell

29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers

It must feel nice to get away from the wrestling matches that Mitchell had to endure against Toronto and Detroit. Mitchell nestled into a comfortable rhythm against a skilled but less physically imposing defense in New York.

Mitchell was in a groove. He scored 26 points by the third quarter by getting to his spots and pushing the Knicks’ shoddy rim protection to the brink. They had no answer for him once he got to the basket and couldn’t contain him at the point of attack. Mitchell made good reads as a playmaker (for the most part) and also racked up 6 steals in a fantastic three quarters.

Then the fourth quarter happened.

Mitchell’s process went out the window as the ball stopped moving. He dribbled, or stood in the corner motionless, as the Cavs offense sputtered out of control. He didn’t contribute to their collapse defensively, but he didn’t help either

Grade: F (A- before the 4th)

James Harden

15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 turnovers

This was a disaster through and through.

Even before the fourth quarter, Harden had started this game on shaky ground with some unbelievably lazy turnovers. A 30-foot pass that was easily picked off by Mitchell Robinson. Another cross-court bomb that went straight out of bounds. And, being loose with the ball at halfcourt and getting ripped for a layup.

But it only got worse.

Harden was the primary target of New York’s comeback. The Knicks put him in action and scored seemingly every time. Jalen Brunson didn’t even notice he was there. That’s partly because Harden himself didn’t look interested in being there himself.

Grade: F–

Evan Mobley

15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

Mobley played one hell of a game before the fourth quarter. He took Karl-Anthony Towns out of his rhythm and helped the Cavs set a strong defensive tone. What happened during the collapse was largely outside of Mobley’s control. He couldn’t help on Brunson’s drives, and had nothing to do but watch as Harden and Mitchell drained the shot clock on the other end.

The Cavs grew stagnant in the fourth quarter. That’s always been the worst version of them. The ball hardly touched Mobley’s hands unless it was a bail-out three-point attempt. That’s not what you want to see happen. But he also can’t control what Harden and Mitchell choose to do with the ball.

Grade: C+

Jarrett Allen

10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Allen was on his way to redemption.

Madison Square Garden is where this nightmare first started for Allen. Since then, he’s had quite a lot of success, in my opinion. But this building was always where he’d have the most to gain or lose. So far, Allen has held up his end of the bargain.

Allen grabbed 5 offensive rebounds through the first three quarters, more than the entire Knicks roster. Totally flipping the tables on what happened to him in 2023 by beating everyone else to the ball over and over again. He dominated the paint and had New York searching for answers.

Similar to Mobley, what happened in the fourth quarter is far more on the guards and coaching than anything the bigs could have controlled.

Grade: B-

Dean Wade

10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

For a guy who sometimes goes multiple games without looking at the basket, this was a pretty sweet performance.

Wade has always been a good shooter. It’s part of the reason why it’s frustrating when he doesn’t shoot. Tonight, however, Wade was appropriately aggressive and let it fly for three three-pointers, including a four-point finish. That should have been more than enough to win.

However, the Cavs failed to reap any of the rewards of having Wade out there for his defense. They conceded the switch, allowing Brunson to draw the switch on Harden. The rest is history.

This is more on Kenny Atkinson for the game plan than it is on Wade for allowing the switch. For that, I won’t dock him.

Grade: B+

Max Strus

8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Strus would have blown the lid off this game if he had it going from downtown. His 2-6 shooting is tough considering the quality of looks he had. But make no mistake, Strus brought his usual impact on all of the margins. He arguably should have been out there in place of Harden during the fourth quarter.

Grade: C+

Dennis Schroder

3 points, 5 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers

Schroder’s first stint was a disaster. The Knicks were completely ignoring him, and he shot just 1-6 on those opportunities.

But the Cavs adjusted in the second half. Schroder wisely cut into open space when he was ignored, and that caused the Knicks to panic once he caught the ball. This led to timely assists to Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen. Schroder finished with 5 assists and 0 turnovers

Still, a 1-9 shooting night isn’t going to cut it.

Grade: D-

Sam Merrill

12 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal

The Knicks played with fire by helping off of Merrill multiple times, and he let them feel the heat. It wasn’t a barn burner or anything, but Merrill hit timely shots and pushed the Cavs to a dominant third quarter that should have given them a large enough cushion to close things in the fourth.

Again, what happened after was not his fault. Merrill fought like hell and nearly hit the winning shot at the end of regulation. It should have never even gotten to that point.

Grade: B

Keon Ellis

2 points, 2 turnovers

Ellis only played a brief stint and looked out of sorts. He settled in a bit towards the end, but never got back on the floor to truly test that.

Grade: D

The Cavaliers led the Knicks by 22 points with less than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night.

Somehow, someway, that lead did not hold. And the Cavaliers did not win.

The Knicks mounted a rally for the ages in a 115-104 overtime win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden. And after the game, Charles Barkley tore the Cavaliers to shreds for their performance.

Charles Barkley on the Cavs: "Hell yeah that was a choke job." #NBApic.twitter.com/alyhnQmYEp

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 20, 2026

Barkley said he doesn’t love to call out teams or people for doing a collapse like that, but he called it a “damn choke job.”

“Oh yeah, hell yeah, that was a choke job. Hell yeah. Hell yeah, that was a choke job. No, that was a choke job. Come on, man,” Charles Barkley said on the “Inside the NBA” postgame show on ESPN. They started taking the air out of the ball with six minutes to go like dummies.”

Cleveland led by two at halftime and then outscored the Knicks 35-23 in third quarter.

After James Harden hit the first of two free-throw attempts with 7:52 left in the fourth, the Cavs led 93-71 and looked well on their way to taking Game 1 on the road.

Whether Harden’s missing the second shot from the line changed the momentum or not, the Knicks rallied to tie the game with 19.3 seconds left.

The Knicks then outscored the Cavs 14-3 in overtime as an overjoyed crowd seemed as if it would blow the roof of the Garden.

Harden finished the night with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and just 1-for-8 from 3-point range. As a team, Cleveland went 16-of-50 from beyond the arc.

The Cavaliers can try to get over this “choke” in Game 2 on Thursday night.