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Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks from 22 down in the fourth quarter to a dramatic victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks trailed 93-71 before Brunson sparked a series of drives to the basket in the NBA’s best postseason comeback.
New York went on an 18-1 run to close control and Brunson tied the game at 101-101 with 19 seconds left.
The Knicks then took control with a 9-0 run in overtime as a delirious crowd at Madison Square Garden danced and screamed in the aisles.
“Just keep fighting,” he said. “Stay away chipping. We won’t give it back in one possession.”
Brunson finished with 38 points, while Mikal Bridges added 18 points and three Knicks scored 13, including Ozzie Anunoby, who came on late after missing two games with a strained right hamstring.
“I was just going to play hard, be aggressive,” said Anunoby, who scored nine of his 13 points in overtime.
“OG has given us a lot of versatility defensively and allowed us to do different things on the floor,” coach Mike Brown said.
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points for the Cavaliers, who seemed well on their way to a third straight road win before their late collapse.
Evan Mobley had 15 points and 14 rebounds, while James Harden also had 15 points, but was just one for eight on three-pointers and had more turnovers (six) than field goals (five).
“There’s no secret: We’re attacking Harden,” Brown said. “Sometimes you have to do what the game dictates, and they were trying to do the same thing with Jalen, so we said, ‘OK, we think we can play that game.’ We try not to play that game too much, but we feel like we have a guy we can play that game with in Jalen.”
Mitchell said he and his teammates collectively could have done more to slow down Brunson and didn’t put the blame for the improbable loss squarely on Harden’s shoulders.
“Ultimately, it’s not on him — it’s on all of us,” he said. “It’s not just on one person. He’s been around the league a long time. He understands that.”
“We played great basketball for three quarters tonight. Unfortunately, the fourth quarter – they dominated us,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.
The Knicks won their eighth straight game and moved within three wins of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
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