James Harden Dragged After Jalen Brunson Leads Knicks In Historic Win

Just like the Western Conference Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals are matching the overtime energy.

The New York Knicks are taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the former using their home court advantage to pull off an epic comeback victory.

If Knicks fans were worried about their squad being rusty after not playing for more than a week, they had a right to be after they barely came out ahead in the first quarter, 23-16, and finished the first half down two points, 48-46.

The slide continued as they finished the third period, losing 83-69, which was amplified in the fourth with the Cavs leading 93-71.

But that all changed with less than eight minutes left in the game when that 22-point lead began to slip. Jalen Brunson began to take over and led an 18-1 run that was aided by a clutch trio of three-pointers from Landry Shamet.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the ball, the Cavs couldn’t sink a shot, as Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and James Harden continued to brick everything from threes to short jumpers.

The Knicks continued to capitalize on that, and with about a minute left in the game, Mikal Bridges hit a three, Karl-Anthony Towns blocked Mitchell, Shamet hit a three, and Brunson hit a floater, tying the game at 101 and sending it to overtime. 

It was more of the same in the five minutes of overtime, as the Cavs struggled to make a shot. In fact, the lone shot they made in extra time came by way of a three-pointer from Max Strus with less than 2 minutes left.

The Knicks, however, poured it on, ultimately winning 115-104, outscoring the Cavs 44-11 over the game’s final 12 minutes.

 Fresh off the win and his own 38-point performance, Brunson spoke to ESPN’s Lisa Salters and was just as flabbergasted as fans.

“We got some stops. We kept fighting, we kept believing,” he begins. “Just kept chipping away. They were playing great basketball. We just found a way. I don’t really have an answer.”

Much of the blame fell on James Harden, who’s notorious for his playoff performances. As the veteran on the team, he was unable to rally, finishing the game with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and making just one of his eight three-pointers.

See how social media is reacting to the Cavs’ collapse and the Knicks’ rally below.