Knicks wild – Jalen Brunson scored 38 points as the New York Knicks erased a 22-point deficit, tied the game with 19 seconds left, then surged early in overtime to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-104 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The comeback carried them to
Madison Square Garden sounded like it had been electrified long before the Knicks even reached the final buzzer.
The moment came at 101-all. when Jalen Brunson attacked and finished with a basket with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to erase what had looked like a cruel night for New York. Just minutes earlier, the Cavaliers were cruising with control of the game, and the Knicks were trailing 93-71 with 7:52 left. Then, with the crowd roaring and the season suddenly feeling possible again, the Knicks flipped it.
Brunson finished with 38 points and sparked an 18-1 run that helped New York complete the dramatic turn. From there, the Cavaliers didn’t get a chance to regroup. The Knicks opened overtime with a 9-0 run. overwhelming Cleveland and sealing a 115-104 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers. led by Donovan Mitchell’s 29 points. had seemed on track for a third straight road win before their collapse.
The Knicks also won their eighth straight game and will head into Game 2 with a 1-0 series lead, with the next contest scheduled for Thursday.
New York’s surge came on a night shaped by momentum and timing. After the Knicks spent the first three quarters looking stuck—going four for 23 from beyond the arc through three quarters—everything changed late. The fourth quarter began with New York struggling again. yet the team still managed to find the offense at the exact moment it needed it.
The setting didn’t hurt, either. Courtside at Madison Square Garden, Celebrity Row was filled with star power, including Ben Stiller and Timothee Chalamet. The Knicks fed off it as the comeback grew louder, and the overtime start turned the building into a celebration of survival.
Mikal Bridges added 18 points for New York, and three Knicks scored 13 or more, including OG Anunoby. Anunoby came on late after struggling most of the way in his return following missing two games with a strained right hamstring.
Cleveland, meanwhile, entered the night with momentum. The Cavaliers looked set to keep that momentum going, with Mitchell powering their control before New York’s late charge finally broke through.
The Knicks’ turnaround felt even sharper because of what came before. They had been on a record-setting run through the first two rounds of the postseason. but they weren’t able to get on track immediately against the Cavaliers. After not playing since May 10. when they finished their second-round sweep of the 76ers. the Knicks misfired for stretches—like rust was doing more damage than the opponent was.
Still, they refused to stay stuck. The final sequence swung so hard that it flipped New York from chasing a nightmare into chasing history. The Knicks moved within three wins of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
There’s also context to how rare this night was. One bigger fourth-quarter playoff comeback in the last 30 years came when the Clippers rallied from 24 down to beat Memphis in Game 1 in 2012. New York, too, has carried comeback energy before—coming from 20 points behind three times last year in the postseason. Those were their largest comebacks on record since 1969-70, when they won their first of two NBA titles.
This time, though, it took a different kind of rescue: an 18-1 run from Brunson that tied the game at 101-all, followed by a 9-0 opening to overtime. When the Knicks finally clicked, it wasn’t just a win—it was a statement, and it came with the series now in their hands.
New York Knicks Cleveland Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Jalen Brunson Donovan Mitchell overtime Madison Square Garden Mikal Bridges OG Anunoby