Knicks-Cavs Game 1 takeaways: Keys to New York's dramatic comeback win

NEW YORK — As exultant fans leaked slowly back out into an unseasonably warm night in the city, the New York Knicks players huddled briefly near midcourt and embraced each other. Just minutes earlier, this building had been dazed, silent. That was before Jalen Brunson carried his teammates and this city to an improbable comeback in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Knicks frantically erased a 22-point fourth quarter deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime, 115-104 , Tuesday, May 19 to position themselves three victories away from the NBA Finals. It was the second largest comeback in the fourth quarter of a postseason game since 1997, the start of the play-by-play era. Here are takeaways from the Knicks’ victory Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals: The Cavaliers wasted a pristine chance — maybe the best they’ll have — to steal a game at the Garden Entering Tuesday night, teams holding a 22-point lead at any point in the fourth quarter of a postseason game were 594-1, a winning percentage of .

998. The Cavaliers made it 594-2. This was, practically speaking, as good a chance as Cleveland will have to steal a game on the road.

From the 7:49 mark until the end of regulation, the Cavs allowed the Knicks to ignite on a 30-8 extended run to send the game into overtime. In fact, if you extend it further, the Knicks closed the game on an astounding 44-11 fusillade that snatched Cleveland’s soul. “Should’ve won the game,” Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell told reporters after the game.