Evan Mobley said Cleveland’s decision to slow the game after building a 22-point lead helped turn Game 1 against the Knicks on its head, as New York closed with a 44-11 run to win 115-104 and take a 1-0 series lead.
The night looked like it was already headed to Cleveland—until it wasn’t.
The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 at Madison Square Garden with a lead that felt safe. With just under eight minutes to go, Cleveland was up by 22 points. It had all but cemented a road win and stolen home-court advantage from the New York Knicks.
Then the game tilted. The Knicks outscored the Cavaliers 44-11 over the rest of the way, including overtime, stealing a 115-104 win and taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
After the buzzer, Evan Mobley tried to put language to the moment the Cavaliers lost their footing. His focus wasn’t on one bad sequence—it was on the shift in tempo Cleveland allowed New York to exploit.
Mobley on what it felt like in the moment in the fourth quarter: “I think we just slowed the pace up. I think we gotta keep playing fast even though we’re up and not try to play the clock until later.” He added: “I feel like we tried to play the clock a little early. and they started going on their run. Gotta do a better job of keeping the pace up regardless of the score.”.
Cleveland didn’t just cool off—they struggled to score and to create the same quality looks they had shown in the middle stretches. The Cavaliers managed just eight points in the last seven minutes of regulation as New York pushed the run forward. The ball movement that had been excellent in the second and third quarters disappeared. and both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden couldn’t carry the offense the way they had been doing.
Mobley did everything he could to keep the Knicks at arm’s length. He even knocked down a clutch 3-pointer late in regulation. But New York’s pressure and scoring surge kept coming, powered by Jalen Brunson and also helped along by Landry Shamet and Mikal Bridges.
Now the Cavaliers have to regroup with urgency. Game 2 is on the schedule with just one day off after this loss, and Cleveland will also be carrying fatigue from having gone through a pair of seven-game series to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
The next test is as much mental as it is physical. Cleveland has to recover from a collapse that began when the pace slowed—then find a way to secure a split in Game 2 before the Knicks can turn this series into something they control.
Evan Mobley Cleveland Cavaliers New York Knicks Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Madison Square Garden Donovan Mitchell James Harden Jalen Brunson Landry Shamet Mikal Bridges