It was spectacular and predictable.
Jalen Brunson, the best ball handler and shot creator on the court, just kept finding himself in isolations against James Harden, a historic choke artist who moves too deliberately and, when tired, plays defense like it’s pickup at the YMCA.
Time and again this happened in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Game 1. And time and again it finished with the ball in the bottom of the net, two points added to the Knicks’ scoreboard.
The final result was a historic 22-point fourth-quarter comeback, keyed by Brunson, giving the Knicks a 1-0 series lead and reiterating their position as the favorite to reach the franchise’s first Finals of the 21st Century. It certainly wasn’t easy Tuesday. But, again, the 115-104 overtime win felt predictable once the game settled into Harden vs. Brunson in crunch time.
