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Led by Jalen Brunson, the Knicks fought back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s contest to steal Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals from the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime.
While Brunson’s 17 points in the fourth quarter and OT were incredibly impressive, the team acknowledged they can’t allow themselves to go down by that much at this stage of the playoffs.
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Looking ahead, Brunson, Josh Hart, and head coach Mike Brown discussed with reporters on Wednesday what the team learned from the Game 1 victory, how they’re staying focused, and what they anticipate from the Cavs in Game 2 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Starting stronger
The Knicks led by seven points after the first quarter on Tuesday night, but were outscored 67-46 in the second and third quarters. Brunson said the biggest takeaway from the game was how they played prior to their big fourth quarter.
“I think more of the first three quarters is a bigger takeaway,” Brunson said. “They were playing great basketball, had us on our heels. Just got to give them a lot of credit. Obviously, we played well in the fourth and overtime.
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“We got to come out ready to go. Honestly, I think we did. It was the middle, it was the middle of second and third quarter where we let go of the rope. That’s our biggest takeaway.”
Hart agreed, saying the Knicks need to bring the same type of energy they expect from Cleveland in Game 2.
“They’re going to come out with extreme energy, attention to detail, focus, sense of urgency and desperation,” Hart said. “And we got to not match that, but we have to exceed it. They’re looking at it like, ‘That was our game we gave away.’ They’re looking at film of, ‘If we fix this here and fix this here, we would’ve won the game.’ And that’s what they’re gonna try to do tomorrow.
“So we got to make sure we come in focused and have a better start than we did.”
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Winning mindset
While the comeback was a strong team achievement, Brunson added that the confident mindset they’ve displayed all season long helped them fight back.
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s great to have a mindset of…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-notes-jalen-brunson-josh-203310258.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-20 20:33:00
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