Game 1 was the kind of loss that lingers. The Cavs were up 93-71 with 7:52 to play and somehow lost by 11 in overtime. Jalen Brunson dropped 38, the Knicks crawled all the way back, and Cleveland flew home from MSG having stolen exactly nothing despite playing the better basketball for three quarters.
Donovan Mitchell did his part — 29 points and 6 steals before the wheels came off — but the closing minutes were Brunson's. James Harden chipped in 15 as the connective tissue. The Cavs cannot afford to lose another late-game possession battle in a building that just witnessed one of the loudest fourth quarters of the Tom Thibodeau era.
Pinnacle has the Knicks -6 with a fair-money price hovering near -109, and the moneyline implies New York is roughly a 67% favorite to take a 2-0 stranglehold. That is a hefty number against a team that was within minutes of stealing home court two nights ago, which tells you how much weight the market is putting on the Knicks' closing kick and the Garden environment.
Total sits at 216.5. Game 1 cleared that with overtime help, but the half-court grind for 44 minutes before the collapse was very much an under pace. If Kenny Atkinson tightens the rotation and the Cavs actually finish defensive possessions, this game can absolutely live in the 210s.
Health-wise both sides are essentially full strength — OG Anunoby is reportedly still working back from the May 6 hamstring strain but is on the floor. That means no excuses for Cleveland. Win this one and the series resets. Lose it and you are flying back to Rocket Arena down 0-2 with the conversation already moving toward what went wrong.