The Cleveland Cavaliers vs Knicks match player stats highlight how this clash played out.
Christmas Day 2025 delivered everything the NBA could have hoped for at Madison Square Garden. The New York Knicks came back from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-124 in one of the most dramatic regular-season finishes of the 2025-26 campaign. It was New York’s third consecutive Christmas victory and a result that shook the Eastern Conference’s power structure heading into the new year.
The Cavaliers had raced out to a dominant early lead, building an 18-3 run to open the game and holding a 38-23 advantage after the first quarter. Cleveland controlled large portions of the third quarter too, building a 17-point cushion early in the fourth before New York ignited one of the great comebacks of the season.
Reserves Tyler Kolek and Mitchell Robinson sparked the turnaround after the Cavaliers led 103-86 with the game seemingly gone. Kolek finished with 16 points and nine assists, and his late block on Donovan Mitchell — originally called a foul but overturned on review — had the Garden crowd in a frenzy. Robinson hustled relentlessly on the offensive glass and finished with 13 rebounds. Jalen Brunson made the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:05 remaining, after he, Kolek and Jordan Clarkson all connected from beyond the arc in a 13-2 run that wiped out a 12-point Cleveland lead.
Both lead scorers matched each other exactly at the top of the stat sheet. Donovan Mitchell finished with 34 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Cleveland, while Brunson also delivered 34 points to lead New York. Darius Garland added 20 points and 10 assists for the Cavaliers but could not protect the late lead. Evan Mobley finished with 14 points and nine rebounds in his return from a strained left calf. Clarkson came off the bench to put up 25 points, providing the scoring burst that kept the Knicks in contention when the game looked over.
Team shooting reflected the contest’s ebb and flow. Cleveland shot 52.3 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from three but could not hold off New York’s fourth-quarter surge. The Knicks connected on 47.7 percent from deep and 21 of 44 three-point attempts on the night, with their bench contributors accounting for the majority of those makes during the comeback.
Full Box Score
Team Stats Comparison
Scoring by Quarter
The final two points of difference came not from superior shooting or execution but from the Knicks’ refusal to accept defeat. Cleveland led for nearly three quarters of the game and appeared to have the win sealed before the remarkable collapse. Mitchell’s late basket was denied on review, Kolek’s block stood, and Brunson’s go-ahead three fell through with just over a minute to play. It remains one of the defining regular-season games of the 2025-26 NBA season.
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