Knicks have miracle win in Game 1 of East Finals
Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden involved both celebration and lamentation. The post Knicks have miracle win in Game 1 of East Finals appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
Black News 
Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden involved both celebration and lamentation. The former by the Knicks and their delirious fans, and the latter by the Cleveland Cavaliers and their backers.
Down 93-71 with 7:52 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Knicks, a team characterized by their mental and physical toughness, executed one of the most stunning come-from-behind wins in NBA playoff history, clawing their way back to a 101-101 tie at the end of regulation then outscoring the Cavaliers 14 to 3 in overtime to snatch a miraculous 115-104 victory from a benevolent opponent.
As has been customary, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was the catalyst. He was a wolf hunting food, specifically his counterpart, Cavaliers veteran guard James Harden, and ate him alive. Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson perplexingly assigned Harden as Brunson’s primary defender and the Knicks’ captain spearheaded an improbable 18-1 run, scoring 15 of his game-high 38 points over the 12-minute stretch.
The 36-year Harden allowed the most points per direct isolation (1.88) in a single quarter in a regular season or playoff game in the last 13 seasons when a player has defended eight or more isolations. Translation: Brunson relentlessly went at him with little resistance. “It was no secret we were attacking Harden,” said Knicks head coach Mike Brown after the game.
More facts: the Knicks overcoming a 22-point fourth quarter deficit was the second-largest comeback in NBA playoff history. Only the Los Angeles Clippers climbing back from 24-point hole versus the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012 exceeds what the Knicks did on Tuesday at a raucous MSG.
“Keep fighting, keep chipping away..” said Brunson. “Just being in attack mode.”
The Knicks extended their playoff win streak to eight games after having a nine-day gap between their 144-114 May 10 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals.
“You can see we were a team that hadn’t played a playoff game in a while but that’s a testament to the grit, the resiliency of this locker room and this team that when the game went along,” said Knicks bigman Karl-Anthony Towns.
Regardless of how the Cavaliers put a positive spin on the loss, it was a devastating defeat that could set the tone and tenor for the rest of the series.
“It’s one loss, it’s a bad loss but all we can do is go back and watch film and fix it,” said Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell, who finished with a team-high 29 points.
“It is one game we could lose by forty. It still would’ve been 1-0.”
True, but the team that is up 1-0 should be them. Now the Knicks go into Game 2 carrying a swag and anything-is-possible mindset for which the Cavs may have no counter.
Games 3 and 4 will be in Cleveland Saturday (8 p.m.) and Monday (8 p.m.).
The post Knicks have miracle win in Game 1 of East Finals appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
