Knicks get a Christmas miracle in form of comeback win over Cavaliers

The New York Knicks trailed by 12 going into the fourth quarter of Thursday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and needed a Christmas miracle to earn a win in front of their home crowd at Madison Square Garden. 

They got one. New York tied the game with 3:48 to go on a Jalen Brunson three and took back the lead with 1:05 to go on another triple from Brunson. 

But it was Karl-Anthony Towns who made the most clutch play of the afternoon in the Big Apple, tipping in a Tyler Kolek miss with 27.3 seconds to go to put the Knicks up by four. Towns then put the final nail in the coffin by catching the inbounds pass on the Knicks' final possession of the game and making a free throw to ice a 126-124 victory for the Knicks. 

Knicks, Cavs on different trajectories 

The win is the third straight for New York on Christmas. Brunson had 34 points in the win, while Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell led with 34 as well. 

With their Christmas Day tilt in the rearview mirror, the Knicks and Cavaliers are on different trajectories. New York is now 21-9 and still in second place in the Eastern Conference, while the Cavs (17-15) are in seventh. 

Cleveland's inconsistency remains a major issue, while New York seems to have a legit, elite squad on hand that has the potential to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in the 21st century.