Brunson, Randle push Knicks past Cavaliers 101-97 in Game 1

CLEVELAND(AP) — Julius Randle joked about being out of shape and Josh Hartwalked into the postgame news conference wearinga T-shirt with a photo ofteammate Jalen Brunsonon the front.

The Knickscould finally relax.

Finally atfull strength, and following a worrisome few weeks, New York’sseason looks much brighter.

Brunson shookoff foul trouble and scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half,Randle returned from an ankle injury to add 19 — and a criticalfinal rebound — and the Knicks welcomed Cleveland back to the NBAplayoffs by holding off the Cavaliers 101-97 on Saturday night inGame 1.

Brunson waslimited to nine minutes in the first half, but hit several bigshots down the stretch as the Knicks turned back Cleveland’s laterally led by All-Star Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 38points.

With theKnicks clinging to a 99-97 lead, Brunson missed a pullup with nineseconds left and Randle bailed out New York with his 10th rebound —and the team’s 17th offensive board — that led to Quentin Grimesmaking two free throws to seal the win.

"You can’tsay enough about the monster rebound Julius made at the end,”Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That rebound was huge. Huge.”

Randle hadn’tplayed since March 29 because of a sprained left ankle, and said hewas thankful he had enough energy for one last jump.

“You see mebreathing out there today?” said Randle, who played 34 minutes. “Iwas tired as hell. But it was just about winning at thatpoint.”

Randle wasreminded that the Knicks had a similar play in Game 1 againstAtlanta in 2021 but didn’t come up with the ball.

“Funny howthings turn, right,” he said.

Game 2 isTuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Mitchellscored 14 points in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough for the youngCavs, who disappointed a raucous, towel-waving Cleveland crowd thathadn’t seen a playoff game since the 2018 NBA Finals.

It’s been along road back for Cleveland, which wasn’t as hurt by itsinexperience as lack of production from the bench.

“First off,this isn’t the end of the world. We got to go get one right back,”Mitchell said. “There’s no room to sit here and feel sorry or feelupset and get down. It’s one game. We will respond.”

Hart added 17points — and hit a big 3-pointer down the stretch — and 10 reboundsin his playoff debut for New York, whose reserves outscored theCavs 37-14.

DariusGarland scored 17 points and Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 14rebounds for Cleveland. Evan Mobley had eight points of 4-of-13shooting.

Randle missedNew York’s final five games after rolling his ankle on March 29,and the injury threatened to thwart New York’s playoff hopes.However, he improved this week despite not taking much contact inpractice and looked like himself from the outset.

His presencelifted the Knicks.

“Seeing No.30 out there was just a great sight,” said Obi Toppin, who scorednine points in the third quarter.

Brunsonpicked up his second foul with 7:52 left in the first quarter, andThibodeau had no choice but to replace the guard, who scored acareer-high 48 points against the Cavs on March 31 — the first gameRandle missed.

Brunson’sfoul trouble had Hart concerned he made a poor fashion choice.

“I told him Iwas going to wear it at some point,” Hart said. “Then he gets intofoul trouble the day I wear it, so I’m going to go burn it andnever wear it again.”

The Cavsdidn’t take advantage with Brunson out as New York reeled off 10straight points and led 30-24 after one.

Brunson wasback on the bench with his third foul midway through the second.Again, Cleveland failed to capitalize and the Knicks led 50-45 athalf.

SCARYMOMENT

Mitchelllanded hard on his lower back after vaulting off a courtside tableand landing several rows into the stands while saving a loose ballin the second quarter.

He winced inpain while behind helped up and returning to the floor. Mitchellthen thanked fans who cushioned his fall during a subsequenttimeout.

“I jumped atthem intentionally, but they moved,” said Mitchell, who sustained asmall cut on his arm. “I don’t blame them. I probably would havedone the same thing. It’s all love.”

NEW YORKSTATE OF MIND

The Knickshave dominated the Cavs in the postseason, winning all threeprevious playoff series.

New Yorkswept a three-game series in 1978 at the Coliseum in Richfield, won3-1 in 1995 at Gund Arena and swept a best-of-5 series in 1996.

TIP-INS

Knicks:Impossible to miss while wearing New York’s bright orange, superfan Spike Lee sat courtside. ... Recorded seven offensive reboundsin the fourth quarter.

Cavaliers:Mitchell is the fourth Cleveland to score at least 38 in a playoffgame, joining LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Brad Daugherty. ...Cleveland hosted its 81st playoff game in the building, which waspreviously known as Gund Arena and Quicken Loans Arena. ... Fourteams have winning postseason records in the arena — the Knicks(5-0), the Spurs (2-0), the Warriors (6-4) and Cavs (57-24). ...Browns star Myles Garrett and coach Kevin Stefanski sat nearCleveland’s bench along with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.