New York produced a historic comeback in Game 1 to beat Cleveland 115-104 in overtime. Despite being down by 22 points with less than eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter, New York pulled together a 28-6 run to tie the game at 99-99 with 45 seconds to play, before Jalen Brunson replied to James Harden’s bucket to force overtime at 101-101. It was all New York in overtime as well, winning the period 14-3, continuing their defensive domination from the end of regulation to pull off an incredible come-from-behind victory. There were a few heroes for New York, but none was bigger than Jalen Brunson. The star point guard dropped 15 points and two assists in the fourth quarter before adding another two points and two assists in overtime to end the night with 38 points, six assists and two steals. Landry Shammet was also an unlikely star for New York, hitting a couple of huge threes in the fourth before breaking Cleveland’s back in overtime with another three as he ended with nine points. Mikal Bridges also continued his hot form from the second round with 18 points on 75.8% TS% to go with two steals, and although OG Anunoby struggled offensively in his return from injury, he looked energetic. Karl Anthony-Towns had another double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and one block, but he had some real ups and downs as Cleveland enjoyed success in the paint and in transition.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Cleveland in the opening 40 minutes of play, taking an 83-69 lead into three-quarter time and using that to build a 93-71 advantage with 8:00 on the game clock. However, Cleveland’s offence completely crumbled from then on, scoring just eight points for the rest of the quarter and then just three points in all of overtime to throw away a golden opportunity for a Game 1 win on the road. Almost all of their damage was done in the second and third quarters, winning those periods 67-46, as they regularly got the better of New York in the halfcourt, and Donovan Mitchell was the main man behind that. The star guard dropped 29 points, three steals and six assists in the win, while Evan Mobley provided 15 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in an elite defensive showing but a poor offensive night. James Harden was also disappointing offensively, to say the least, with 15 points on 40.2% TS% and six turnovers, and Jarrett Allen couldn’t find his impact from the Detroit series, with just 10 points and seven rebounds.
Whatever could have gone wrong did go wrong for Cleveland in the fourth and OT, and that’s potentially providing them with a positive outlook heading into Game 2. However, New York found plenty of creases in their defence as the game went on and it was no coincidence that they scored at will and starved Cleveland of good offensive opportunities in that period, and I expect to see NY continue that form into Friday’s game. Brunson proved that he is the best player in this series and there are too many weaknesses in Cleveland’s perimeter defence to slow him down. With Anunoby also set to have a better night after his stinker in his return game, I have to side with NY here.