The New York Knicks turned a 22-point deficit into a 115-104 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Eastern Conference finals, closing with a furious late surge that flipped the series opener at Madison Square Garden. Down by 22 with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter, the Knicks went right at James Harden and never let up.
The turnaround was decisive. New York attacked Harden on 15 consecutive possessions late in regulation, produced 30 points on those trips and scored on 13 of them. Jalen Brunson drove the comeback with 38 points and six assists, including 15 points in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks finished on a 44-11 run to take a 1-0 series lead.
For Cleveland, it was a collapse that turned a comfortable lead into a missed chance to seize control of the series. Harden played 42 minutes and finished with 15 points, three assists and a 16-shot night in which he missed 11 times. The Cavaliers had led by a wide margin after three quarters, but they could not stop the Knicks from turning the game into a hunt for their weakest defender.
Mike Brown said afterward that there was no secret about the strategy, and the game bore it out. New York kept bringing Harden into the action, forcing Cleveland to respond possession after possession as the clock wound down. Once the Knicks found the mismatch, the pace changed. The shots began falling. The building tightened. And the Cavaliers, who looked in command only minutes earlier, suddenly had no answer.
Harden acknowledged the pressure on his side of the ball and the damage Brunson did when the Knicks isolated him. He said Brunson made tough shots and described him as a great one-on-one player, adding that anyone left on an island would have a difficult time. Harden said Cleveland needs to do a better job of making sure Brunson sees bodies and of helping him when he is isolated, because stopping that kind of scoring is not a one-man job. He also said Brunson made a couple of shots that got New York going.
The Cavaliers now go into Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night trailing 1-0, with a problem that could shape the next two weeks of the series. Cleveland did enough for three quarters to control the opener, but the final stretch showed how quickly that edge can disappear when New York gets Brunson into rhythm and keeps finding Harden on defense.
