Stephen A. Smith arrived at the First Take desk on Tuesday morning carrying the same emotional weight that has hung over Cleveland Cavaliers fans since Jalen Brunson finished off the largest fourth-quarter comeback by a road team in NBA playoff history. The Cavaliers led by 22 with 7:40 left in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals; Brunson scored 17 of his 38 points across the fourth quarter and overtime; and the Knicks walked out of Madison Square Garden with a 1-0 series lead that has Stephen A. shortening Cleveland's title odds in real time.
Will Bond gave Smith the floor to react, and the long-time Cavaliers backer responded with the kind of theatrical detachment that masks genuine concern. "I love everybody," Smith began. "It's a beautiful, beautiful morning in the neighborhood. Everybody, I just wanted to say that I love everybody."
The composure did not last. Smith pivoted to a forensic verdict on what Brunson did to Harden once the Knicks point guard found his rhythm. "You can't lose like this. There is a difference. If you lose this game because it's nip and tuck, you're going back and forth and you know what, they just come out on top — that's a game one loss. That's all it is," he said. "But demoralization kicks in when stuff like last night happens."
Smith argued the visual of Brunson repeatedly hunting Harden in isolation will linger longer than the box score. "When Jaylen Brunson goes out there and busts your ass, and you have no answer for that whatsoever, demoralization kicks in," Smith said. "It's the equivalent of getting your heart snatched out of your chest."
The First Take host then rewrote his own series projection on air. "I had the New York Knicks winning this series in six games. Now I see it in five," Smith said. "Like Will Bond said, I see the Knicks winning game two because they can't lose game two. Everything we're saying, let's keep in mind, it goes right out the window if Cleveland turns around and comes back and wins game two. It goes right out the window. But we don't foresee that happening."
Smith laid out the math the rest of the way. "If the New York Knicks go up 20, then it's about winning both games in Cleveland," he said. "I think the New York Knicks can steal one and then they come back for game five and they close the deal."
He returned to the specific damage Brunson inflicted to back up the revised pick. "Mikal Bridges hit two big-time threes and so did Landry Shamet, and we get that part," Smith said. "But when Jaylen Brunson goes out there and busts your ass, I mean, and you have no answer for that whatsoever, demoralization kicks in."
The numbers will haunt the Cavaliers either way. Harden finished 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter and overtime, with Brunson targeting him on nearly every meaningful possession down the stretch. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland's All-NBA guard, did not make a field goal after the 8:19 mark of the fourth quarter. The Knicks became the first team in the last 30 postseasons to come back from 20 or more points down with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to win.
Stephen A. closed the segment by reminding viewers that the gap between a 1-0 series and a 2-0 series, particularly when one side is reeling and the other is running on Madison Square Garden adrenaline, often functions like a mile rather than a step. "It was the Knicks' largest playoff comeback since at least 1970," he said. "Heat. Heat." For the Cavaliers, the only escape from the demoralization Smith described is a Game 2 win that prevents him — and the rest of the league — from speaking past tense about their season.
