Cleveland led by 22 points with 7:52 left in regulation. The story was finished. And then New York came onto a patch of the parquet and produced one of the biggest comebacks in playoff history - an 18-1 run, overtime, and a final score of 115-104 in game one of the Eastern Conference finals.

As one commenter on social media put it: "I can't remember the last time I saw a fall this fast in the NBA." The Cavaliers had owned the floor for nearly 47 minutes - and in the last five they left the game like someone had pulled the plug.

Jalen Brunson finished with 38 points and was the engine of the comeback. Mikal Bridges added 18. When Brunson took over and started scoring in a tight moment, even the Cavaliers shrank into the bench as if waiting for a signal - that's the look fans recognise immediately. The team no longer believed it could.

On the other side, Donovan Mitchell was putting up 29 points by the 24th minute before vanishing from the story. Just two days after Cleveland had destructively dispatched the Pistons in game seven of the second round, this collapse looks even harder. Teams that dominate stretches for hours and then drop five minutes and everything - that's playoff basketball. Even if nobody expected exactly this scenario.

The series now heads to New York with the home side 1-0 up. For Cleveland, the question is no longer whether they have the level to play against Brunson - it's whether they have the head. A Balkan fan knows this feeling well: the team that rules a whole game and at the end loses on every front. The Cavaliers have to forget the collapse in 48 hours, otherwise this series is over before it starts.