'We were attacking Harden': Knicks, Brunson go after Cavs veteran to key their improbable comeback

NEW YORK (AP) — James Harden could not stop Jalen Brunson down the stretch and did not have enough offensively to make up for it.

The Cleveland Cavaliers blew a 22-point lead to lose Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals to the New York Knicks in overtime on Tuesday night, and Harden's struggles at each end of the court played a big part in the collapse.

Brunson scored on several possessions in a row off the dribble with Harden guarding him. Brunson had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter alone.

“He made some tough ones, but we obviously all know he’s a great 1-on-1 player,” Harden said. “Anybody on an island, it’s going to be difficult, so we’ve got to do a better job of making sure he sees bodies. On the other hand, they do a good job at supporting him and helping him when he’s on an island. He made some tough ones, but we’ve got to do a better job as a team.”

Knicks coach Mike Brown put the ball in Brunson’s hands and trusted his point guard to exploit the matchup against Harden.

“There is no secret: We were attacking Harden,” Brown said. “Sometimes you’ve got to do what the game dictates, and they were trying to do the same thing with Jalen, so we said, ‘OK, we feel like we can play that game.’ We try not to play that game much, but we feel like we have a guy that we can play that game with in Jalen.”

Brunson only had 14 points at halftime, and Cleveland's defense switching defenders on him paid dividends until he got 1-on-1 with Harden to spark the comeback.

“Jalen was a little bit more aggressive,” Harden said. “We just allowed him to be aggressive, and he made shots and he continued to make shots.”

Coach Kenny Atkinson said he and his staff made adjustments, but nothing worked.

“We started sending two at him, getting the ball out of his hands, full rotating,” Atkinson said. “James was good most of the game. Listen, we weren’t great defensively in the fourth quarter.”

Playing 48 hours after blowing out Detroit in Game 7 of the second round, Atkinson said he never considered taking Harden off the court defensively.

“Listen, he’s been one of our best defenders and a big player in the playoffs,” Atkinson said. “I trust him. He’s smart, great hands.”

Trading for Harden, an 11-time All-Star, in February helped propel the Cavaliers to this point. But the 36-year-old struggled Tuesday night with the ball in his hands, too.

Harden shot 5 of 16 from the floor, including 1 of 8 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over six times.

Donovan Mitchell, who led Cleveland with 29 points, said he and his teammates could have done a lot more collectively to slow down Brunson and did not put the blame for the improbable defeat on Harden’s shoulders.

“Ultimately, this isn’t on him — it’s on all of us,” Mitchell said. “It’s not just on one person. He’s been around the league long enough. He understands that.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots past Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) during the first half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Cavaliers' James Harden, bottom left, fouls New York Knicks' Og Anunoby during the overtime period of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Knicks' Mikal Bridges, left, covers Cleveland Cavaliers' James Harden during the overtime period of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, bottom, drives past Cleveland Cavaliers' James Harden during the second half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) reacts after giving a foul to New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) during the second half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States on Wednesday carried out another wave of strikes on Iran, where air defenses opened fire over the capital, Tehran. Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel’s doorstep, and alerts were issued in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The 11th night of American airstrikes on Iran came as diplomatic efforts have shown little public sign of progress. Officials on both sides have dug in on their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed because of Iranian attacks.

Iran has avoided striking Israel since hostilities resumed last month, apparently hoping to keep it from reentering the war. But the missile and drone attack on Jordan’s city of Aqaba, within sight of Israel’s Eilat, raised concerns over a further widening of the conflict after an agreement to halt hostilities collapsed.

The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East. A new threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another trade chokepoint at risk.

Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to around $94 a barrel in trading, and gasoline prices are once again climbing ahead of U.S. midterm elections this fall.

Jordan’s military said it intercepted four Iranian missiles over Aqaba, while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones.

Another missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, without elaborating.

The U.S. military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran, with targets including aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran's Health Ministry says U.S. strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted its retaliatory attacks would continue.

Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, without elaborating, according to IRNA.

At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.

In response to Iran’s attacks, the U.S. re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.”

He signaled that U.S. forces could soon target an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.

The site, known as Pickaxe Mountain, lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the U.S. during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025. But Pickaxe Mountain has remained untouched as Iran continues to dig at the site.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while resuming the enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels since Trump scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal during his first term. The U.S. and others believe Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003 and may reconstitute it in the future.

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Michelle L. Price and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)