5/5 🧵 In overtime, Cleveland was done. OG Anunoby scored 9 of the Knicks’ 14 OT points, Shamet hit another big three, and Madison Square Garden went from anxious silence to total chaos. The deeper meaning of the win is the juicy part: last year’s Game 1 collapse became Knicks trauma; this year’s Game 1 comeback might become Knicks mythology. Same stage, opposite script.
📎 Source
4/5 🧵 Jalen Brunson was the engine. He poured in 15 points during the late fourth-quarter surge and repeatedly hunted mismatches — especially James Harden, who got left on him far too often. Brunson scored 11 straight Knicks points at one stage and looked exactly like the kind of closer who rips a team’s soul out in a playoff game. Mikal Bridges hit two massive threes, and Landry Shamet buried the huge game-tying three with 45 seconds left.
3/5 🧵 Then the switch flipped. After falling behind by 22, the Knicks outscored Cleveland 44-11 the rest of the way and shot 71% in that stretch while the Cavs hit just 22%. They closed regulation on a 30-8 run. That’s not a comeback. That’s a full-on theft in broad daylight.
2/5 🧵 For most of the night, New York looked cooked. Their offense was clunky, they were 4-for-23 from three through three quarters, and Cleveland’s size with Evan Mobley + Jarrett Allen was smothering the Knicks’ elbow-action sets. ESPN’s win probability had New York at 0.1%. Basically: funeral music was already playing.
1/5 🧵 The Knicks didn’t just win Game 1 — they pulled off a borderline insane resurrection. Down 22 points with 7:52 left, they stormed back to beat Cleveland 115-104 in OT. That’s the biggest playoff comeback in Knicks history and one of the wildest collapses the Cavs will ever have to explain.
5/5 🧵 In overtime, Cleveland was done. OG Anunoby scored 9 of the Knicks’ 14 OT points, Shamet hit another big three, and Madison Square Garden went from anxious silence to total chaos. The deeper meaning of the win is the juicy part: last year’s Game 1 collapse became Knicks trauma; this year’s Game 1 comeback might become Knicks mythology. Same stage, opposite script.
📎 Source
#threadstorm
4/5 🧵 Jalen Brunson was the engine. He poured in 15 points during the late fourth-quarter surge and repeatedly hunted mismatches — especially James Harden, who got left on him far too often. Brunson scored 11 straight Knicks points at one stage and looked exactly like the kind of closer who rips a team’s soul out in a playoff game. Mikal Bridges hit two massive threes, and Landry Shamet buried the huge game-tying three with 45 seconds left.
3/5 🧵 Then the switch flipped. After falling behind by 22, the Knicks outscored Cleveland 44-11 the rest of the way and shot 71% in that stretch while the Cavs hit just 22%. They closed regulation on a 30-8 run. That’s not a comeback. That’s a full-on theft in broad daylight.
2/5 🧵 For most of the night, New York looked cooked. Their offense was clunky, they were 4-for-23 from three through three quarters, and Cleveland’s size with Evan Mobley + Jarrett Allen was smothering the Knicks’ elbow-action sets. ESPN’s win probability had New York at 0.1%. Basically: funeral music was already playing.
1/5 🧵 The Knicks didn’t just win Game 1 — they pulled off a borderline insane resurrection. Down 22 points with 7:52 left, they stormed back to beat Cleveland 115-104 in OT. That’s the biggest playoff comeback in Knicks history and one of the wildest collapses the Cavs will ever have to explain.