Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers walked out of Madison Square Garden knowing they let Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals slip away.
After building a 22-point fourth-quarter lead Tuesday night, Cleveland collapsed in a 115-104 overtime loss to the New York Knicks, who were fueled by Jalen Brunson and a historic comeback.
Mobley finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in 40 minutes, but the forward focused less on his stat line and more on the Cavaliers’ inability to close the game.
“Definitely hurts,” Mobley said postgame. “You want to win Game 1 and especially when you’re up like that, you wanna win those games and we got to do better with finishing that.”
Cleveland led 93-71 with 7:52 remaining before New York erupted on an 18-1 run. Brunson repeatedly attacked downhill, finishing with 38 points and tying the game at 101 with 19 seconds left in regulation.
Mobley pointed to the Cavaliers’ pace as one of the biggest issues during the collapse.
“I think we just slowed the pace up,” Mobley said. “I think we got to keep playing fast even though we’re up. Not try to play the clock until later.”
The fourth-year big man believed Cleveland became too cautious offensively once the lead reached the 20-point mark.
“I feel like we try to play the clock a little early and they started going on their run,” he said. “So, we got to do a better job of keeping the pace up regardless of score.”
The Cavaliers had controlled most of the game behind efficient ball movement and strong defense. Cleveland led by as many as 24 and held the Knicks to just four made 3-pointers through three quarters.
But once Brunson found rhythm late, the momentum shifted completely inside a loud Madison Square Garden crowd.
“You know, Jalen, of course, is a great clutch player,” Mobley said. “He gets super hot.”
Instead of dwelling on frustration, Mobley said the Cavaliers stayed focused possession by possession during the comeback.
“In the moment, we’re just trying to get stops and play basketball,” he said. “You try to score down there and then after the fact, you watch the film and see what’s going on.”
Mobley briefly appeared to halt New York’s momentum with a late fourth-quarter 3-pointer that pushed Cleveland’s lead back to double digits. Even so, the Knicks continued attacking and eventually dominated overtime with a 9-0 opening burst.
“For sure. Big three, hit it and yeah, hope that that helps,” Mobley said. “But we got to play defense down the stretch, get stops and keep pushing pace.”
Despite the collapse, Mobley stressed that Cleveland can still build on how it played through most of the first three quarters. The Cavaliers shot 40% from the field and made 16 3-pointers, while Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points.
“I think we played pretty good basketball throughout most of the game,” Mobley said. “It’s just that fourth we just got to keep playing that way.”
Cleveland faced similar adversity earlier this postseason after falling behind 0-2 against the Detroit Pistons in the conference semifinals before winning four of the next five games.
“We’ve been here before,” Mobley said. “You just got to bounce back. You got to look at the film, see what we could change and fix that.”
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night in New York, with the Cavaliers attempting to avoid heading back to Cleveland in an 0-2 hole.
