No one has ever done this to James Harden in a playoff quarter — until the Knicks

The New York Knicks trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22 points with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night. What followed was a historic playoff collapse in recent memory and it ran almost entirely through James Harden. 

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To pull off the epic comeback, the Knicks had Jalen Brunson attack «The Beard» directly. This helped them to complete a 44-11 run through the fourth quarter and overtime, resulting in a 115-104 win and a 1-0 series lead for New York.

The strategy the first-year head coach Mike Brown applied in the fourth quarter was surgical. The Knicks did not target Harden with any picks in the first quarter and used him as a screen defender only six times through the first three quarters. 

They ran 16 on-ball screens directly at him In the fourth quarter. According to GeniusIQ tracking, that is the most any guard has been screened in a single playoff quarter since the tracking era began in 2013-14. 

In total, New York targeted Harden with 27 picks. ESPN’s Zach Kram noted that this is the most Harden has defended in a single game of his 17-year career.

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During the Knicks’ late run, they totally shut down Harden. In the fourth quarter, he made only 1 of his 6 shots, scored just three points and didn’t get a single assist.

Knicks ran 21 pick-and-rolls right at him, and it worked almost every single time. They also forced him to guard Jalen Brunson one-on-one nine times, which turned into incredibly easy buckets for New York.

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell took the side of his teammate after the loss. He said everyone is blaming Harden, but «we still had the opportunity on the other end to take advantage. And we didn’t. It’s not just on one person.»

Cavs will now look to adjust their coverages before Game 2 tips off Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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