Jalen Brunson fought foul trouble and scored 21 of his 27 in the second half, Julius Randle returned from an ankle injury to add 19, and the New York Knicks welcomed Cleveland to the NBA playoffs by beating the Cavaliers 101-97 on Saturday night in Game 1.
Brunson was limited to nine minutes in the first half, but hit several big shots down the stretch as the Knicks reversed Cleveland’s late drive led by Donovan Mitchell.
Randle was questionable until pregame warmups, when he tested a sprained left ankle two weeks ago. The All-Star forward looked like himself as he paced the No. 5-seeded Knicks, who fell behind 93-92 with 2:12 to play.
With Mitchell making plays all over the floor, the Cavs were 99-97 in the final seconds when Brunson missed a throw, but Randle grabbed his 10th rebound and passed to Quentin Grimes, who was fouled with four seconds remaining.
Grimes hit both free throws as the Knicks finished off the Cavs and disappointed a raucous, towel-waving Cleveland crowd that came to life in the fourth quarter when Mitchell scored 14 to bring the Cavs back.
Mitchell finished with 38 for the Cavs, who returned to the playoff stage for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals. It’s been a long road back for Cleveland, affected less by inexperience than lack of experience. of production from the bank.
Josh Hart added 17 points and hit a big 3-pointer down the stretch for New York, whose reserves outscored the Cavs 37-14.
Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland.
Game 2 is Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.