Jalen Brunson's Game 1 Heroics Don't Tell the Full Knicks Story

Coming off arguably the best seven-game stretch in franchise history, the smoking-hot Knicks started Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Cavaliers ice cold. It was noticeably chilly in Madison Square Garden despite a 90-degree heat wave ongoing in Manhattan.

There’s been lots of debate about rest vs. rust for the Knicks as coach Mike Brown’s team enjoyed eight full days off following their historic second-round sweep of the 76ers. During the first 40 minutes of the game, there was no debate any longer as the group couldn't knock down a shot and looked as disjointed as any game this season.

They Knicks connected on just 4-of-23 three-pointers through three quarters and saw their 83-69 start of the fourth quarter deficit grow. The Cavaliers were out hustling and bustling them as Clyde Frazier would say. With 7:52 left to play, the Knicks trailed 93-71 and it was hard not to think about New York’s 0-7 record when losing Game one of a playoff series on their home turf.

History is not on the Knicks side when they lose Game 1 of a playoff series at MSG

The wound is still fresh from Tyrese Haliburton's buzzer beating prayer erasing a 14-point Knicks lead with under three minutes to go in Game 1 of the Conference Finals almost exactly a year ago at the Mecca. The flip was scripted Tuesday night and the basketball gods returned the favor on Landry Shamet's game-tying three with 45 seconds left which ping-ponged around the basket and evened the score at 99.

Led by who else, Jalen Brunson, the Knicks closed the fourth on a 30-8 run to send the game to overtime, capped by his floater with 19.3 ticks left to tie the affair at 101. The captain relentlessly attacked James Harden and scored 15 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth.

Cleveland's coach Kenny Atkinson let Harden die on the vine. The long-maligned playoff choker was the screener defender on 21 on-ball picks in the fourth quarter and overtime alone. New York scored 1.6 points per direct action on those plays, according to the All NBA Pod. Amazingly, the Knicks didn't have a single transition point in the fourth. They just obliterated the Cavs in the half-court time after time.

Atkinson called a grand total of one timeout during the Knicks' avalanche and his grand overtime adjustment was tasking Sam Merrill with trying to slow down the Brunson burner. The Knicks opened extra five minutes with a 9-0 burst and closed the 115-104 victory by outscoring Cleveland 44-11 over the last 12:52 of gameplay.

The comeback wasn’t just fueled by Brunson’s heroics and Shamet's timely shooting. Mikal Bridges made two monstrous threes in the final minutes. Then there's coach Mike Brown deserving major kudos for sticking with the sharpshooting journeyman in place of Josh Hart to close the game.

Curtesy of Andrew Claudio of the Knicks Film School, 5-man lineup of Brunson, Bridges, Shamet, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby first got put on the floor together with 7:52 left in the 4th quarter. They outscored the Cavs 44-8 over the 12:10 they played as a unit the rest of the game.

The Knicks going and staying five-out won them the game

The benching of Hart is no indictment on that team's heart and soul. But it's telling how New York was -23 with a 72.1 offensive-rating with him on the court. Compared to a 154.3 offensive-rating and +34 with him on the sidelines.

While the Knicks obviously had issues shaking off the rust, the Cavaliers tired legs caught up with them. Cleveland has been playing almost every other day for a month and are coming off consecutive seven-game series. The Cavs had five baskets in the fourth while Brunson alone cashed in on seven makes.

The victory marked New York's fourth 20-plus points playoff comeback over the last two springs. All other teams are 4-67. To put the win in historical context, teams up at least 20 with seven minutes or less to go of a playoff game were previously 643-0, per Fred Katz of the Athletic.

Before Tuesday night, teams in last 30 seasons were 594-1 when leading by 22+ points in fourth quarter of a playoff game. The only other win was by Clippers, who stormed back from 24 down to beat Memphis back in 2012. Meanwhile, the Knicks were 0-277 since the shot-clock era -1996-97- when trailing by 22+ in fourth quarter in a regular season or playoff game, per Josh Dubow Associated Press.

This wasn’t a Miracle on 34th street, it was a heist greater than the Lufthansa.

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