The New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 at Madison Square Garden to move halfway to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, including five made three-pointers, and added seven assists. Jalen Brunson contributed 19 points and 14 assists, while Mikal Bridges added 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds. The Knicks won their ninth straight game, matching the NBA’s longest postseason streak since the 2024 Celtics. An 18-0 run in the third quarter created a 71-53 lead after a prior comeback from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for Cleveland, which now faces a 2-0 deficit and hosts Game 3.
"Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their ninth straight game. It is the NBA's longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship."
"Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Knicks made sure they would be in control late with an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 71-53 lead. Fans chanted Knicks in four! Knicks in four! in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches. In our mind it's 0-0. We've got to win the next game. It's the most important game of the year and that's how we treat it, Towns said."
"Brunson scored 38 points in the Game 1 comeback. He had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the run that broke open the game and finished the highest assist total of his playoff career. Hart burned a Cavaliers defensive strategy that seemed built around leaving him open from long range after he was benched for the rally in Game 1, playing just three minutes combined."
"Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday. Nothing to hang our head about, Mitchell said. They protected home court, and we've seen this before so we're going to go to Game 3. The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but haven't played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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