NEW YORK — Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson defended holding on to his timeouts down the stretch of the fourth quarter Tuesday night, even as his team was blowing a 22-point lead inside the final eight minutes of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The New York Knicks finished the fourth quarter on a 30-8 run to erase Cleveland’s advantage and force overtime before closing out a 115-104 victory, but Atkinson called only one timeout during New York’s furious comeback. He finished the fourth quarter with two timeouts remaining.

“I like to hold my timeouts,” Atkinson said after the game. “I didn’t want to have one timeout at the end of the game, one- or two-point game. I tried to hold them.”

Cleveland led 93-71 with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Knicks closed the game on a 44-11 run, including overtime.

“They hit some really tough shots in that fourth quarter,” Atkinson said. “We got a little unlucky, quite honestly.

“My only regret, and this can happen when you get a little fatigued, I think it just stopped moving. We were pinging the ball all over the place, great ball movement, and then it just got a little stagnant.”

During the Knicks’ closing stretch, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, Cleveland’s star backcourt, combined to shoot 1-for-10 from the field (0-for-5 from 3) for three points with two turnovers.

Mitchell finished with 29 points but did not score in overtime and converted his final field goal with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter. He denied dealing with any injury, but he said he wanted to review the film to better understand his lack of involvement down the stretch.

“I don’t think it’s anything to overreact to,” Harden said. “Like I’ve always said, it’s a feel thing. Go back and watch the film and I might have an answer for you tomorrow.”

Harden ended up burdened with most of the team’s offense down the stretch. He finished 5-of-16 shooting for 15 points with six turnovers and three assists.

“It’s difficult. Difficult situation,” Harden said about controlling the offense and trying to stop a run. “As a coach, you kind of want the players to kind of figure out and withstand the storm and calm things down, but it’s happening fast.

“We just got to do a better job as players to offensively get our pace up and understand what we’re trying to do, which we had success in those first three quarters. So, it’s on us to get our pace up and get into our offense much, much quicker.”

The Cavaliers have had some difficult losses this postseason. They lost a buzzer-beater in Toronto during Game 6 of the first round after RJ Barrett’s shot bounced high above the rim before falling in. They blew a chance to close out the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 at home during the second round.

And yet, Cleveland responded after each of those losses. But Tuesday’s collapse was one of the worst in NBA postseason history. The blown 22-point lead is the second-largest, fourth-quarter collapse in the past 30 postseasons. The LA Clippers overcame a 24-point deficit against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2012.

“It’s the same. It’s one loss,” Mitchell said. “We’ve had some tough ones, but it’s one loss. It’s not like that loss gives them two or three games, right? It’s one. So we have an opportunity to come back here in two days and steal one here, and that’s really all it is.

“If you allow yourself to go down that path, you won’t be ready for Game 2. So that’s pretty much the mindset.”