The Cardiac Knicks are alive with a historic night at The Garden

 History was made Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden by the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Orange and Blue delivered the franchises’ largest playoff comeback ever down 22 points with 7:32 left in the game. “I really truly feel the fans [were] the ones that got us this win tonight” said Karl-Anthony Towns postgame on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt. Fans impact every game but not like they do at MSG.

The entire night felt like it wasn’t going to go the way of the home team. The feeling of having too much time away from the court was palpable at times. Then an inch of momentum went the way of the Knicks and the Madison Square Garden faithful powered this squad the rest of the way. A big deal is made as to whether home court matters anymore in a league that can simply swing on the shooting from behind the arc, that isn’t the case in New York City.

The Garden is its own beast; an avalanche you cannot stop once good things start rolling for the home team. Cleveland with a lead and multiple timeouts in hand got blinded by the bright lights of Broadway.

“We f*cking blew it… but it’s only one loss” is how Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell described the historic collapse in Game 1. Down the stretch the combination of Mitchell and James Harden were just 1-10 in the 4th quarter and overtime. The Knicks ended the game on a 44-11 run. New York Knicks Captain Jalen Brunson scored 17 of his game high 38 points in the 4th quarter and the overtime period.

It wasn’t just the Knicks Captain. Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet hitting big three-point shots during the Knicks run late to tie the game as well as being key difference makers defensively providing energy to keep the run alive on the other end of the floor was the difference. OG Anunoby put Shamet’s impact this way: “We weren’t surprised this is what he does, happy for him.”

“Habits translate and they translate to the next game.” In the next game on Thursday night, Cleveland will have to break the habit of giving games away late in the 4th quarter. Last year in Game 2 of the second round against Indiana, Cleveland was up 17 points with 7:32 left in the game and lost. In the deciding Game 5 of that series Cleveland had an eight-point lead with 10:05 left in the 4th quarter and couldn’t do enough to hold off elimination. New York on the other hand, they’ve had a habit of coming back from 20 points or more in the last two postseasons runs, the 4th such time. Landry Shamet put it this way “we got a group that didn’t flinch at that deficit and made something happen.” With a win like Tuesday night, it’s almost impossible not to think that this group of Knicks might be a team of destiny.