Last night’s win will undoubtedly go down as one of the most memorable games for Knicks fans of all generations. It had a bad start, questionable decisions, a historic comeback, clutch shots, and big moments. But somewhat lost in all of the memories, and incredible on-court performances are some of the numbers that sound anywhere from incredible to downright unbelievable.
So, here is a list of some of the most noteworthy stats from a noteworthy game, brought to you by reporters, analysts, and Knicks fans from all over.
Let’s start with the low point. When the Cavaliers were up 93-71 with 7:49 left in the game, ESPN Analytics had the Knicks with just a 0.1% chance to win the game. Until last night, teams trailing by 22 points or more in the fourth quarter of a playoff game were 1-594.
Teams up 20 or more in the final seven minutes of a fourth quarter in a playoff game were also 643-0 before last night.
Teams were also 3-747 in games where they were down 20 or more at any point in the fourth quarter.
As we all know now, they turned things around due to some lineup changes, a heroic effort by Jalen Brunson, a few clutch baskets by role players, and a side of Kenny Atkinson, and the Cavaliers choking. Noted by many, the Knicks ended up going on an insane 44-11 run.
And much of the run was powered by Brunson, his shot-making, and him getting James Harden to switch on to him seemingly at will. According to ALL NBA Podcast, Harden was the screener defender on 21 on-ball picks in the final two periods. New York got 1.6 points per direct actions on those plays. He also guarded eight isolations in the fourth quarter-something that has only happened 30 times during the tracking era-and gave up an absurd 1.88 points per direct actions on those, which was the most of such instances since the 2013-14 season.
Brunson, as he does so often, also etched his name into the history books. He extended his lead for most playoff points since joining the Knicks, most 35+ points playoff games since he became a Knick, and now has more 35-point playoff games than 99.7% of all players in NBA history.
He also raised his average to 29.4PPG in the playoffs as a Knick, which is sixth all-time among players who have played 50 or more playoff games with one franchise.
And he also became the second-fastest point guard in NBA history to reach 2,000 career playoff points, trailing only Steph Curry.
We also cannot talk about Game 1 without mentioning Mikal Bridges and his late-game heroics. Not only was he one of the few players to start the game relatively well, but he also made two of the three biggest shots in the game, and the Knicks do not win this game without him. In fact, Bridges is playing maybe his best stretch of basketball as a Knick. He’s been incredible all postseason long defensively, and has been amazing offensively over his last six games, averaging 18.7PPG, while shooting 67.1% from the floor.
While Tuesday night’s thriller wasn’t the dominant performance fans have gotten accustomed to seeing from this team, they have now won eight straight games, haven’t lost a game in 27 days, and have outscored opponents by an absurd 196 points during that span.
It can be hard to sometimes appreciate greatness while we are in the moment. But this is a reminder that this is a very good team that is always capable of coming back from a large deficit, and is led by one of the greatest playoff performers of all-time. Enjoy it, and don’t take it for granted.
