Knicks-Cavs: What player not named Jalen Brunson will produce offensively?

The Knicks took a punch Tuesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals but managed to survive the blow and escape with an inspiring comeback win in overtime — what Karl-Anthony Towns referred to as an expensive inexpensive lesson. On Thursday night at Madison Square Garden they get to show if they learned the lesson. Here are three things to watch heading into Game 2.

1. Back to the basics

Much has been made of the Knicks' revamped offensive schemes in the postseason, shifting to a system with Towns as the hub, orchestrating the offense from the high post. But what worked against Atlanta and Philadelphia looked clunky and slow against Cleveland, which makes sense since the Cavs can put Evan Mobley out on the perimeter against Towns, hounding him and not allowing him the freedom of movement to find cutters. But what the Knicks have now is versatility and as the game wore on they went back to what has been their system for years — letting Jalen Brunson pick apart a defense. The Cavs will surely try to find a way to keep Brunson from hunting James Harden on switches, maybe more Max Strus on him and simply fighting through screens. So how the Knicks counter that counter will provide a hint of whether the Cleveland defense can slow the Knicks.

2. The price of gas — or being gassed

The workload on Harden was on display in the fourth quarter Tuesday as the Knicks attacked him time after time defensively. But maybe more than just the work was how long he required to do it. The 36-year-old Harden played 42 minutes in the overtime loss and has now played at least 33 minutes in all 15 of the Cavaliers postseason games — including two 40-plus minute efforts in overtime games in a seven-day span.

3. Who’s next?

The Knicks have managed to embrace their depth throughout the season and particularly in the postseason.

Landry Shamet emerged as a hero in the fourth quarter and overtime sessions after playing just three minutes before that. Miles McBride had a quiet game — scoreless with five fouls — and Jordan Clarkson only had three points. But maybe the one to step up will be Josh Hart, who watched much of the comeback from the bench. Cleveland was daring him to shoot and he had struggles — just 1-for-5 from three. But he was confident Wednesday that the Cavs will try that strategy again and he will be up to the challenge.

“Probably the same game plan,” Hart said. “For them, this is the same game plan that put them up 20 or whatever and then we had that comeback so they’re probably gonna do the exact same thing. I’m gonna shoot the exact same shots, I’m gonna shoot it with confidence, play my game — whatever that is in the moment.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.