Knicks stun Cavaliers with historic overtime comeback in Game 1

The Knicks turned a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 115-104 overtime victory by finishing on a 44-11 run over the final 7:40 of regulation and overtime at Madison Square Garden. What had looked like Cleveland control became a statement about New York’s late-game resilience, and it gave the Knicks a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Jalen Brunson drove the turnaround with 38 points, 17 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime, as New York kept coming possession by possession after trailing by as many as 22. Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 29 points, and Evan Mobley added 15 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, but the Cavaliers could not stop the surge once the Knicks found rhythm at the end of regulation.

The context made the comeback even more striking. New York had gone nine days without a game before tipoff, while Cleveland had played every other day for the previous three weeks. By the fourth quarter, that rest-versus-rust gap had become visible, with the Knicks’ legs fresh enough to keep pressing and Cleveland unable to steady the game once the lead started shrinking. The result was the largest comeback in franchise postseason history and one of the biggest postseason reversals the league has seen.

The historical numbers only sharpened the shock. NBA teams had been 1-521 this season when trailing by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter. Over the last 30 years of the playoffs, teams down 20 or more in the fourth quarter had been 3-748. This was also the first time in NBA history that both Conference Finals Game 1s went to overtime. For New York, it was the kind of opener that can alter a series before the opponent has time to reset.

Brunson summed up the Knicks’ response in two words: “Find a way.” Cleveland, by contrast, left with the sound of a collapsing locker room after Mitchell said the Cavaliers “blew it.” That frustration now pushes the pressure squarely onto Game 2, scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. The team that wins Game 1 of the Conference Finals has gone on to win the series 78.2% of the time in NBA history, and New York already holds the leverage that comes with taking the opener on a night Cleveland let slip away.