The Knicks Have All The Juice | Defector

The Knicks are positioned to reach the NBA Finals, with the remaining question being whether the Cavaliers can win a game. The Game 3 score of 121-108 understates the gap between the teams. Cleveland appears physically worn and mentally discouraged, while New York has not lost in a month and recently became the 10th team in NBA history to win at least 10 consecutive postseason games. New York’s Game 1 approach targeted James Harden and exploited defensive weaknesses. Cleveland responded in Game 2 with traps and double-teams, but the Knicks still produced strong results. In Game 3, New York started fast, scoring 37 points in the first quarter on 71% shooting, and maintained control for most of the game. Cleveland’s guards struggle to defend, leaving the Knicks in a steady offensive rhythm.

"The Knicks, barring cosmic intervention, are headed to the NBA Finals. All that is left to learn in this series is whether or not New York will let Cleveland have a game. The 121-108 scoreline from Game 3 pretty badly misrepresents the gap between the East's last remaining contenders. The Cavs appear physically spent and mentally boomed. The Knicks, meanwhile, haven't lost in a month, and Saturday night they became just the 10th team in NBA history to win at least 10 consecutive games in the same postseason."

"New York spent the closing stretch of Game 1 picking on James Harden, pulling him out and abusing his defensive vulnerabilities. Cleveland's answer in Game 2 was to warp their own defense with traps and double-teams, leading to a career night for Josh Hart and another, far more convincing, Knicks win. If Cleveland had a counter dialed up for Saturday, it was hard to pick out its contours."

"The Knicks were in a sweet offensive rhythm right from the opening tip, pouring in 37 first-quarter points on absurd 71-percent shooting. New York opened the game with a lightning-quick 9-1 run, and from that point until about the final 150 seconds of the fourth quarter, it felt like Cleveland's entire basketball project had been whittled down to the struggle to merely catch their breath."

"Cleveland's guards simply cannot defend. There was a moment in the second quarter, when the Cavs had made a valiant push to draw even on the scoreboard, where Brunson came up with a lo"

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