It doesn’t take much for the New York Knicks to draw some energy and mount a comeback, but they’ve become very comfortable being resilient this season.
They erased a 15-point deficit and then a 17-point gap to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day with a 126-124 win at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks trailed 107-91 with eight minutes remaining in the final quarter before the roots of what head coach Mike Brown called “maybe our best win of the season” took hold. Mitchell Robinson on the glass, Jordan Clarkson going on shooting binges and Tyler Kolek having one of his best stretches of the season all conspired to bring the Knicks back into contention. Consecutive offensive rebounds by Robinson, a handful of his eight offensive boards on the day, led to multiple 3-point shots from the Knicks and the deficit was suddenly down to six.
Kolek hit three triples in the fourth and had a key strip on Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell that was overturned by a coaching challenge that was critical in the final minutes. Clarkson scored seven of his 25 during the comeback, including consecutive 3-pointers.
The Knicks spoiled the return of Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, who missed the past two weeks with a half strain, as well as Darius Garland joining Mitchell for one of the first times this season in having a game reminiscent of their run last season.
“Our bench basically won the game for us,” Brown said. “They put us in position down the stretch.”
Brown mentioned starting forward Josh Hart speaking to the bench following the recent loss to Minnesota, saying the reserves should hold the starters accountable and change games — and they seemingly took his challenge to heart.
When Hart went down with what appeared to be a lower leg injury, hope seemed lost and the underperforming Cavaliers looked poised to deliver a season-turning win. But it wasn’t long before the Knicks went to work, and soon they came to rely on Jalen Brunson to score 14 of his team-high 34 in the fourth.
“Maybe our best win because of the circumstances,” Brown said. “There’s all types of stuff to make this game funky, but for our guys to keep battling and not get out of sorts — there could be a lot of bickering and finger-pointing but everybody kept talking about finding a way.”
Robinson, who is among the league leaders in offensive rebounding despite playing 18 minutes per game, kept rooting smaller and lighter Jarrett Allen out of the way. Robinson played 4:46 in the fourth and picked up eight total rebounds.
“When the game is getting tight like that and you need a little energy, you crash the glass,” Robinson said. “I just keep crashing. Sometimes I get it.”
The Knicks hit 21 3-pointers at a 48% clip, with Brunson hitting six of them, including three in the fourth when New York took full control.
“We kept fighting; there were times where we said we didn’t have it tonight,” Brunson said. “It starts with Tyler, JC and Mitch. They were the reason we won.”
It appeared as if the fourth quarter would wind up as a duel between Brunson and Mitchell, who also scored 34.
“It was ugly, but we found a way,” Brunson said. “We don’t want to be down 17 once, let alone twice. But it shows you the type of team we are. We’re growing as a team, and this is a big step for us.”
