The New York Knicks overcame a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Cleveland in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, marking the second-most successful fourth-quarter comeback in a playoff game in 30 years.
The visitors dominated the first three quarters of the game at Madison Square Garden. With 7:52 left in regulation, Cleveland led the home team by 22 points, 93:71. However, the Knicks made a comeback and tied the score at 101:101. In overtime, New York managed to pull out a 115:104 victory.
The 22-point comeback was the Knicks' biggest comeback in playoff history. Last year, the Knicks overcame three 20-point deficits in the playoffs, their biggest comebacks since 1969-70, when they won the first of two NBA titles.
Overall, in the NBA, this is the second-largest deficit in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the last 30 years . Only the Los Angeles Clippers managed to overcome a bigger deficit in 2012, when the team overcame a 24-point deficit against Memphis.
The main initiator of the home team's surge was guard Jaylen Brunson. The basketball player scored a total of 38 points for the game, 17 of which were in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime. Knicks guard Brunson became the author of an 18-1 surge that allowed the home team to reduce the deficit and seize the initiative at the end of regulation.
“I don't have an answer [how it happened]. We made some stops, kept fighting, kept believing. Just kept scoring points. They played great basketball, and we just found a way,” Brunson said.
Mikal Bridges (18 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (13 points and 13 rebounds) also contributed to the Knicks' victory. Donovan Mitchell was the most effective player for Cleveland with 29 points, but only three of them came in the final quarter.
Cleveland suffered its first road loss of the current playoffs after two consecutive victories on foreign courts in the previous rounds. Commenting on his team's decline in performance in the final eight minutes of regulation, Cleveland leader Mitchell admitted full responsibility for the loss of the lead.
“We should have won this game. I'm not going to blame it on [complacency or fatigue]. Even if there was complacency, we were up by 22 points and God knows how much time was left — eight minutes? We should have won this game. But we didn't,” Mitchell said.
The win in the first match gave New York a 1-0 lead in the semifinal series, which will last until four wins. The second match of the semifinal confrontation will take place on Friday, May 22, at the Knicks' court.
The winner of the match will advance to the NBA Finals, where they will face the best team in the Western Conference – Oklahoma City or San Antonio.