Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell Duel Has NBA Fans Craving Knicks-Cavs Playoff Series

Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks previewed a potential must-watch first-round playoff matchup in Friday night's 130-116 win over Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brunson scored a career-high 48 points and both teams topped 100 before the fourth quarter in a blistering back-and-forth between the current No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the East.

Even without Knicks top scorer Julius Randle (ankle) and Cavs leading rebounder Jarrett Allen (groin), both teams got plenty of offense from historic performances by Brunson and Mitchell, who are now the first pair of opposing NBA players since 1997 to both top 20 points in the first quarter of a game.

Brunson's 33 points in the first half marked the most by a Knicks player since Carmelo Anthony in 2014, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

For the Cavs, Mitchell finished with 42 points to mark the 11th 40-point game of his career, tying Kyrie Irving for the second most in franchise history.

Whether those high totals were due to stellar offense or poor defense is up for debate.

The teams ended the third quarter just three points apart, with the Knicks at 105 and the Cavaliers trailing at 102. Then, the Cavs began to falter.

If the regular season ended tonight, the Cavaliers (No. 4 in the East) and Knicks (No. 5) would face each other in the first round of the playoffs.

Based on tonight's game, NBA fans wouldn't mind watching that matchup.

Hopefully the high-paced scoring, career-best performances and exciting physical play repeats if these two teams meet again in the postseason. Both teams have four games remaining before the playoffs begin.