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The Knicks' comeback wasn’t merely the biggest in the franchise’s playoff history. The previous 351 teams to fall behind by such a massive margin in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, dating back to 2012, had all gone on to lose, according to Stats Perform.

But in a way, the specifics of how the Knicks made history were strangely predictable. Over and over again, New York called on Brunson to get them another bucket to trim the seemingly insurmountable deficit.

And, without fail, the player they nicknamed “Captain Clutch” delivered. It was always going to be him.

Still, there was much more science than magic to the Knicks’ comeback. Midway through the game, Brown settled on a strategy whose genius lay in its simplicity. Brown knew that Brunson was among the best one-on-one scorers in the NBA, and that Cleveland guard James Harden was notoriously slow-footed on defense.

So Brown scrapped his normally free-flowing offense to run one play ad nauseam. The Knicks set screens to force Harden to switch onto Brunson—and then got out of the way to let their leader go to work.

“There’s no secret,” Brown admitted. “We were attacking Harden.”

Read more (free link): https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/knicks-comeback-cavs-game-1-brunson-8db74faf?st=3wT8Bd&mod=wsjreddit