The Cleveland Cavaliers blew a 22-point lead and dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks, 115-104 in overtime Tuesday night.
“This is one of the all-time biggest playoff collapses ever," said Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto. "I don't even have any adjectives for what we saw."
Pluto said the Cavs still had a chance to regroup in overtime.
“As bad as things were with (losing) that 22-point lead, regulation ended with the score tied," Pluto said. "So, it's almost like you had a fresh start in overtime, and the Cavs scored only three more points in the five-minute overtime period, and it just got crushed."
The hero for New York was point guard Jalen Brunson. Over the final 12 minutes and 39 seconds of the game, including overtime, Brunson scored 17 of his 38 points.
“(Brunson) is known to being able to get hot and he went right at James Harden, the Cavs veteran guard," Pluto said. "And I'm actually almost yelling, ‘Just double team Brunson, make somebody else beat you.’ In other words, run a couple of players at Brunston right away. And the Cavs just seemed to let James Harden try to defend him.”
Pluto said he is not sure how much blame falls on Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“I thought Kenny Atkinson had some chance to take some timeouts, maybe see if that would help. He didn’t," Pluto said. "Usually, I have to admit, when you call a timeout to stop the momentum of another team for the most part, it doesn't work."
Pluto said the Cavs struggled on both ends of the floor late in the game.
“Defensively they fell apart after having been so good for most of the game," Pluto said. "Then on offense, where they were moving the ball around and different guys are making shots, they fell into the give the ball to James Harden, dribble, dribble dribble. Donovan Mitchell had been playing so well during the game. He just sort of faded out of the offense."
After the game, Donovan Mitchell described the defeat as “one loss.”
“Well, that's true,” Pluto said. “But to see how the Cavs will react when they're on the court Thursday night, we're going to find out a lot about them right there.”
Pluto said the Cavs have shown toughness throughout the playoffs.
“The Cavs have proven during these playoffs, they're pretty resilient," Pluto said. "They've had some bad losses, not quite this bad, but some bad ones. And they faced elimination in two consecutive series, and they won Game 7's, which are really big. So, they have some backbone and some grit there, but it's going to be really tested.”
As for what concerns him most heading into Thursday night’s Game 2, Pluto pointed to James Harden.
“James Harden has had yet another game where he had more turnovers, six, than making field goals, five," Pluto said. "That's the sixth time in 15 games in these playoffs Harden has had that. Kenny Atkinson is going to be faced with the decision. Do I take out this guy who's going to end up in a basketball hall of fame to try and win the game? And what do you do?”
Pluto said Game 2 will be pivotal for Cleveland.
“Actually, if you turn around and win that Game 2 in New York, you come home, you feel great about yourself," Pluto said. "So, a lot's on the line Thursday night.”
