Brunson Leads Greatest Comeback Ever! NY 115 Cleveland 104 in OT

May 21, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
Landry Shamet hit HUGE 3's and played Tremendous defense on Donovan Mitchell to help Knicks come back from 22 pts down with 7:52 left to win in OT. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The Knicks were down 22 pts with 7:52 left in the game when Jalen Brunson went bananas, joined by Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges and the Knick defense to tie the game and send it to overtime — where the Knicks thrashed Cleveland for a 115-104 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at an insanely loud Madison Square Garden on a Tuesday night.

Brunson scored on drive after drive, hitting floaters and jumpers and 3’s. Mikal Bridges stuck 3’s — one as the shot clock expired with Evan Mobley draped over him. Landry Shamet hit Huge 3’s; OG Anunoby boxed out for rebound after rebound; Karl-Anthony Towns added a big bucket inside and added great D, blocking a key Donovan Mitchell drive near the end of regulation.

Brunson attacked James Harden as if he was a traffic cone, and when someone else like Max Strus took him — Brunson passed to whoever Harden was covering.

“Our crowd is fantastic,” said Knick coach Mike Brown afterwards. “It’s the best in the league. Our guys felt their energy.”

“Jalen Brunson was huge as he’s won at all levels for a reason and it’s no accident,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He’s always in attack mode, keeps his defender at his mercy while making the right pass, right play and big shot but credit to Landry Shamet for not just hitting timely shots but also his defense.”

“I’m just happy we found a way to win,” said Brunson afterwards.

NY takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

1. Knicks Lead 23-16 After 1 Quarter

Cleveland jumped out to a 10-4 lead on a bunch of buckets by Donovan Mitchell but NY pushed right back with buckets by Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges. An alley oop slam by Mitchell Robinson off a Bridges feed put NY up 20-13.

A Jordan Clarkson 3 off a Mitchell Robinson feed put NY up 23-16 after 1 quarter — a 12-0 Knick run.

2. Cavaliers Go on 21-8 Run to Take 48-46 Lead at Half

The Knicks were up by 11 pts midway thru the 2nd quarter, at 38-27, after a Brunson drive and OG Anunoby 3.

But Cleveland increased their intensity — with Donovan Mitchell picking up steals leading to full court breaks.

The Cavaliers also started hitting their 3’s while the Knicks started misfiring — and the Cavaliers went on a 21-8 run to end the quarter.

Sam Merrill and James Harden hit consecutive 3’s, then Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus each knocked down a 3, and Mitchell hit a 3-and-1 with 3 seconds left in the quarter to put the Cavaliers up 48-46.

3. Cavaliers Extend Lead to 14 Pts After 3 Quarters

Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 3 and got a bucket inside early in the 3rd quarter for NY, but Cleveland kept hitting 3’s and started to pull away.

Evan Mobley hit a 3, Dean Wade hit a 3, Donovan Mitchell scored on multiple drives, and Sam Merrill hit a 3 to put Cleveland up by 10 at 66-56 — stunning the MSG crowd into quietness.

Jarrett Allen got consecutive buckets inside, and Sam Merrill hit a 3 and Cleveland was up 14 at 77-63.

The Knicks seemed a step slow on defense, and on offense NY could not get anything sustained sans some buckets by Brunson, KAT, and Bridges.

Donovan Mitchell kept stealing the ball — he had 6 steals through the 3rd quarter.

4. Cleveland Goes Hack-a-Mitch Late in 3rd

Mitchell Robinson came in and gave the Knicks energy on the offensive boards and defense — but Cleveland went to Hack-a-Mitch with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Mitch made 1 of his first 2 free throws, but then went 0-2 on the next possession, and 0-2 on the possession after that with 2:19 left in the quarter and NY down 79-64.

Mitch went 1-2 after being fouled with 1:21 left to pull NY within 81-67.

5. Cavaliers Go Up by 22 with 7:52 Left Off the 3 Ball

James Harden hit free throws to start the 4th, putting NY down by 16 pts, and then Dean Wade hit a 3-and-1 followed by a Donovan Mitchell 3 and NY was getting run out of the building — down 92-71 with 8 minutes left.

James Harden got fouled on a drive and made the 1st free throw to put Cleveland up by 22 pts — 93-71 with 7:52 left.

Harden missed the 2nd free throw — no biggie. But that was to begin an 18-1 Knick run to get them within 94-89:

  • Brunson hit a floater off a drive past Harden,
  • Shamet hit a 3 from the corner,
  • KAT got a reverse bucket inside off a Brunson pass,
  • Brunson hit a runner; Harden hit 1 of 2 free throws, but
  • Brunson hit another runner,
  • Brunson made a 12-foot pullup,
  • Brunson hit a 7-foot pullup off a drive, and
  • Brunson hit a 3 — Cleveland 94 NY 89 with 3:30 left.

Cavaliers Time Out.

Out of the timeout, Evan Mobley hit a 3 to put Cleveland back up by 8 — 97-89 with 3:09 left.

But OG hit 1 of 2 free throws after being fouled on a drive, the Knicks caused Sam Merrill to turn the ball over, and on next possession — Mikal Bridges stepped back and stuck a 3 as the shot clock was expiring with Evan Mobley draped all over him. Cleveland 97 NY 93 with 2:38 left.

Down the other end Knick defense kept causing Cleveland misses. Harden missed a 3, Donovan Mitchell missed a drive but Jarrett Allen put back an offensive rebound for a 99-93 Cleveland lead with 1:41 left.

OG missed a 3 and Cleveland had the ball with 1:40 left and a 6-pt lead. But Mobley missed a 10-footer and Brunson came down and fed Mikal Bridges who stuck another 3 for a 99-96 game with 1:14 left as the Garden Exploded.

KAT then blocked Donovan Mitchell’s drive, and Landry Shamet stuck a 3 from the corner for a tie game 99-99 with 45 seconds left. BEDLAM.

Harden came back with a 10 footer in the lane for a 2-pt Cleveland lead with 31 seconds left — but Brunson came right back with a baseline drive and bank-shot for a tie game at 101-101 with 19 seconds left. More BEDLAM.

Cleveland had the ball with a chance to win — no timeout called even though they had 2 — and Sam Merrill took a 3 with 3 seconds left that rimmed in and out as you could hear the “B” of “BANG” by Mike Breen then withdrawn “Misses!” on the national broadcast.

Knick coach Mike Brown tried to call a timeout but the refs didn’t see him as Mikal Bridges grabbed the rebound with a second left and heaved it toward the basket the other way.

6. Knicks Dominate Overtime

The Knicks had all the MOJO and they dominated overtime.

OG Anunoby started driving inside — first time he was fouled and hit 2 free throws. Then Brunson hit ANOTHER runner and NY was up by 4.

Knick defense kept forcing Cleveland misses — Mitchell missed a drive; Evan Mobley missed a 3.

OG drove inside for a bucket and NY was up 107-101.

Mobley missed another 3, and Landry Shamet knocked down another 3 — a killer 3. NY 110 Cleveland 101. MSG ROARED.

Finally Max Struss hit a 3 with 1:45 left to pull Cleveland within 6 but NY kept coming. Out of a timeout, OG was fouled on a drive and hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 111-104 Knick lead with 1:19 left.

As Cleveland came up court, Mikal Bridges snuck up from behind and stole the ball from Max Struss and the game was over right there.

OG missed a 3 but down the other end, Jalen Brunson forced James Harden to throw the ball away and Cleveland was forced to foul with 39 seconds left. OG hit both free throws and that was ballgame — NY up 113-104 with 29 seconds left.

Mobley missed a 3 and the Knicks walked off the clock to an uproarious Madison Square Garden.

Etcetera

The Knicks have done an innovative, amazing job of having former players at playoff games — something they started several years ago. At this game former Knicks Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, John Starks, Iman Shumpert and others were all on the sidelines cheering the current Knicks on.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873341

 

 

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