'As Tough As it Gets,' Cavs' Dan Gilbert Reacts to Historic Blown Lead vs. Knicks in NBA Playoffs

Cleveland Cavaliers governor Dan Gilbert opted to take a positive approach after his team's massive collapse in a 115-104 overtime loss to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night.

In a post on X, Gilbert acknowledged that the loss was "as tough as it gets," but added that the team has "proven over and over again that it can come back stronger than ever."

Cleveland led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, but a 44-11 run by the Knicks in the fourth quarter and OT lifted New York to a stunning victory, and helped it seize all momentum through one game of the series.

Cavaliers-Knicks Highlights

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With the Cavaliers in firm control of the game with around eight minutes left in regulation, the Knicks decided to see if they could reverse their fortunes by having Jalen Brunson attack James Harden on offense.

Knicks head coach Mike Brown admitted to reporters that it was the plan, adding, "You got to do what the game dictates. They were doing the same thing with Jalen. So we said two can play that game."

The result was perhaps better than the Knicks ever could have imagined, as Brunson made five straight field goals on Harden at one point and scored 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter.

Brunson tied the game at 101-101 with 19.3 seconds remaining in the fourth, and after Sam Merrill missed a potential game-winning shot for the Cavs, they went to overtime.

Clearly shell shocked by the way things played out during the fourth quarter, Cleveland was outscored 14-3 in OT, and it was the OG Anunoby show, as he scored nine of New York's 14 points.

When all was said and done, the Cavs became the first team in the play-by-play era to blow a lead of 20 points or more with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, per Nate Duncan of the Dunc'd On podcast:

Teams in that same situation were a remarkable 643-0 before the Cavaliers bucked that trend.

Making the loss even more shocking was how dominant the Cavs were in their Game 7 win over the Detroit Pistons in the second round.

Cleveland went on the road and beat the Pistons 125-94 to win that series, and it looked as though the Cavaliers were poised to make a similar statement in Game 1 of the ECF.

Instead, they fell apart down the stretch, and they will now be tasked with bouncing back and proving Gilbert right.