Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledged the conundrum.
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Atkinson was largely satisfied with the difficulty level of the Knicks’ looks during their furious fourth-quarter comeback in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, saying the attempts were in the “first percentile of shot quality.”
But he also watched Jalen Brunson score basket after basket against James Harden as the Knicks erased a 22-point deficit en route to a historic come-from-behind overtime victory on Tuesday night.
The Knicks repeatedly set screens in that fourth quarter to switch the 36-year-old Harden onto Brunson, and Brunson took advantage with 16 points in the period.
“The numbers would say [to] stick with what you’re doing,” Atkinson said ahead of Game 2 at Madison Square Garden. “From a process level, it’s working. But we all know, too, there’s a great player on the other team that can disrupt that process, and you say, ‘Well, we’ve got to help our players.’ I always go to that first. How can we help our players?”
Ultimately, the Cavs opted to adjust their defensive strategy in Thursday night’s Game 2, making it a point to deny the switch, and it made for a much tougher scoring night for Brunson.
But that wasn’t enough to deny the Knicks a 109-93 victory as they took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Brunson scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting Thursday, but he dished out 14 assists, his most of these playoffs. He finished 1-of-7 on 3-pointers.
It was Brunson’s first double-double of the postseason.
Brunson scored the Knicks’ first basket of the night Thursday in a matchup against Harden, blowing right by the veteran guard for an easy three-footer.
Every time Brunson was able to get Harden in isolation, a sellout Garden crowd began cheering in anticipation.
But lanky Cavs forward Dean Wade largely managed to stick with Brunson after that, and Brunson failed to get going in the first half.
Brunson went into halftime with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting with three assists, but Cleveland’s attention on the Knicks’ leading scorer led to opportunities for others. Despite Brunson’s slow start, the Knicks led, 53-49, at the break.
And the Knicks continued to take what the Cavs gave them in the third quarter as they began to pull away.
Brunson totaled six assists in the third quarter, including on all three of Josh Hart’s 3-pointers in the period.
The 29-year-old Brunson got going from a scoring standpoint, too, tallying seven points during a decisive 18-0 run in which the Knicks turned a tie game into a 71-53 advantage.
Brunson added 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a short jumper on a possession that Harden switched onto him, as the Knicks iced the win.
Notably, Brunson assisted on four of the five 3-pointers made by Hart, whom Cleveland left open on the perimeter for the second game in a row.
After his shooting struggles caused Hart to be benched down the stretch of Game 1, Hart scored a team-high 26 points and finished 5-of-11 on 3-pointers.