Jalen Brunson leads Knicks back
from 22 down in the 4th for 115-104 win over Cavs in OT in Game 1
[May 20, 2026]
By BRIAN MAHONEY
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson sparked one of the NBA's greatest
postseason comebacks, a rally from a 22-point deficit in the fourth
quarter, and finished with 38 points as New York beat the Cleveland
Cavaliers 115-104 in overtime on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the
Eastern Conference finals.
After a record-setting run through the first two rounds, the Knicks
were going nowhere for 40 minutes against the Cavs, trailing 93-71
with 7:52 to play. But Brunson relentlessly attacked James Harden to
spark an 18-1 run that made it a ballgame, and he tied it at 101-all
on a basket with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
Before that, Brunson said the message for the Knicks was just to
finish strong so they would have momentum for Game 2, even if they
lost the opener.
“Just keep fighting,” he said. “Keep chipping away. We’re not going
to get it back in one possession.”
The Knicks then opened overtime with a 9-0 run as a delirious crowd
in Madison Square Garden danced and screamed in the aisles. The
Knicks moved within three wins of their first NBA Finals appearance
since 1999.
Mikal Bridges added 18 points and three Knicks scored 13, including
OG Anunoby, who came on late after struggling most of the way in his
return after missing two games with a strained right hamstring.
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points for the Cavaliers, who seemed well
on their way to a third straight road win before their late
collapse. The Knicks outscored them 44-11 after their 93-71 lead.
“We played great basketball tonight for three quarters.
Unfortunately, the fourth quarter — they dominated us in the fourth
quarter,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.
The Knicks won their eighth straight game and will host Game 2 on
Thursday.
The Knicks had outscored Atlanta and Philadelphia by a combined 194
points, the largest margin ever through a team’s first 10 postseason
games. But after not playing since May 10, when they finished their
second-round sweep of the 76ers, the Knicks misfired most of the
night, looking like the rust hurt more than the rest helped.
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Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, top right, brings his arm
down on New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, left, during the second
half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball
playoffs series, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki
Iwamura)
They were 4 for 23 on 3-pointers through three
quarters and then had a horrible start to the fourth. But a year
after coughing up a 14-point lead in the final minutes of regulation
and losing to Indiana in OT in Game 1 of the conference finals on
their home court, the Knicks found their offense just in time.
“But it was our defense that has always been special in these
playoffs and that has carried us in this playoffs, that showed up in
the fourth quarter and in overtime,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “It
allowed us to be sitting here with a win against a really great
team.”
The only bigger fourth-quarter playoff comeback in the last 30 years
was when the Clippers rallied from 24 down to beat Memphis in Game 1
in 2012.
“That can’t happen. But it did," Mitchell said. "We play in two
days. We can’t sit here and let it kill our momentum, kill what
we’ve been doing. It’s not a good loss.”
The Knicks came 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.
Evan Mobley had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs. Harden also
scored 15 points, but was just 1 for 8 on 3-pointers and had more
turnovers (six) than field goals (five).
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