NBA Basketball BETTING PREVIEW - Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks

NBA Basketball

2026-05-21 - Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks

A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown

Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks
United States : NBA Basketball Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals Game 2
Thursday 21st May 2026 - Scheduled 8pm EST
1am (British Time)

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Preview

Most of the attention is going to be focusing on the New York Knicks after putting together a historic comeback that will have fans believing destiny is with them as they bid to return to the NBA Finals for the first time in twenty-seven years.

They were 22 points behind with less than eight minutes remaining and no one would have given the Knicks a shot at recovering.

Instead the team rallied to force Overtime and overwhelmed the Cleveland Cavaliers to produce the biggest comeback in the history of the New York Knicks as far as the post-season goes, while also being the second biggest deficit clawed back in the Fourth Quarter of any Playoff game in the last thirty years.

The number crunchers gave the Knicks a 0.1% chance of winning with a little over half of the Fourth Quarter remaining, but somehow it is New York who have a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jalen Brunson put the team on his back and could not miss, but there were also key contributions from three point shooters who had been ice cold for the first three Quarters. Some of that is clearly down to the big gap between games, but the Knicks found their rhythm just in time and all of the momentum is with a team that have won eight straight Playoff games.

Credit has to be given to New York for the fight shown, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are rightly going to be facing criticism.

James Harden was exposed time and time again on the Defensive side of the court as the Knicks turned up the heat, which also impacted his level on the Offensive side as he was worn down. Donovan Mitchell had been playing really well, but drifted out of the game as the Cavaliers looked for someone to take control, although he has played down an injury concerns.

And Head Coach Kenny Atkinson has had to face the critics having failed to use his Timeouts in a bid to at least curtail the Knicks run in the Fourth Quarter when almost everyone else would have used them, even just to slow the clear momentum shift.

Adjustments will have to be made by the Cavaliers, but they have responded to adversity throughout these Playoffs and that makes them dangerous- yes, they did lose two in a row at the Detroit Pistons to open the Second Round Series, but the Cavaliers won road games in Game 5 and Game 7 to show they can come through difficult, hostile environments.

However, there has to be a concern about the way things went at the end of Game 1 and the relative lack of recovery time before the teams face off again in Game 2 at The Garden.

Open shooters will have to be more clinical with those opportunities, while Mitchell cannot allow himself to become a non-factor as he did in the second half of the Fourth Quarter and in Overtime in Game 1.

The challenge for the Cavaliers is knowing that this New York Knicks team had been completely out of sync for so long in Game 1 that they should have won on the road, while now they are dealing with a team that did find rhythm with their shots. The three point shooting has been eye-catching in this Playoff run, but the Knicks have so much room for improvement from the Tuesday efforts that they feel very, very dangerous if the Cavaliers do not come out with a point to prove.

Big favourites have found it tough in the Conference Finals, while teams playing after a loss have bounced back effectively, which are both trends favouring the road team.

Game 2s have tended to be very good for home teams after a win with those putting together an 8-5 run against the spread and the New York Knicks have to believe the manner of the opening win is going to have a hangover effect on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It is imperative the Knicks come out fast and use the emotion of the crowd to get on top of the Cavaliers as early as they can and, if they can do that, they should have a better shooting day with some of the looks they saw in Game 1 to believe they can win and take a 2-0 lead in the Series with a cover of the spread line set.

Prediction

The Game 1 win has given the New York Knicks the unexpected lead in the Eastern Conference Finals considering how things played out.

They have a lot of room for improvement, despite the win, and the Knicks can cover and take a grip of the Eastern Conference Finals ahead of the next two games being hosted by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pick :

New York Knicks 112-104 Cleveland Cavaliers

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back New York Knicks - 6 Points at -105 with Bovada