CLEVELAND — Regardless of the situation, Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen never changes. He doesn’t panic, get overly emotional or behave confrontationally.
That remains the case, even with the third-seeded New York Knicks holding a 2-0 lead over the fourth-seeded Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday night.
“That’s just how our whole playoffs have been, our backs against the wall,” Allen said, breaking into a smirk. “We like to keep things interesting, keep everybody stressing about what the next game is going to be like.”
The Knicks carry all of the momentum into what is virtually a must-win contest for the Cavaliers, who are 6-1 at home in the playoffs. Cleveland also trailed the top-seeded Detroit Pistons 2-0 in the East semifinals before winning the next three games.
New York, however, is a much more complete team than Detroit. So far this series, star guard Jalen Brunson is averaging 28.5 points and 10.0 assists, forward Josh Hart is scoring 19.5 per game and center Karl-Anthony Towns has put up 15.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game.
Led by former Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, the Knicks have won a franchise-record nine straight playoff games since losing two of their first three against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
Of the 12 previous teams to win nine straight playoff games, seven of them won the championship.
The Knicks’ plus-221 point differential through 12 playoff games is an NBA record.
“The most important thing is that we’re growing and learning together,” Brunson said. “No matter what the situation is, whatever the series is, we’re open to learning, open to getting better. Open to figuring out how to win games, trusting each other.”
New York rode Brunson to rally from a 22-point deficit in the final 7:52 of regulation of Game 1, winning 115-104 in overtime. Brunson scored 15 of his 38 points in a 30-8 run to end the fourth quarter.
Hart took center stage in Game 2 with a postseason-career-high 26 points, five 3-pointers and seven assists in a 109-93 victory. The Knicks used another backbreaking run, this time 18-0 in the third quarter, to crush Cleveland’s spirits on the road.
“He’s a gamer,” Brown said of Hart. “It’s easy for me to say because I have the utmost confidence in the world in him. … When you have guys who are gamers, they do stuff that people don’t think they can do. His confidence is not going to waver.”
For the first time this postseason, the Cavaliers appeared fatigued in Game 2 after playing every other day since April 29 as a result of their seven-game series with the Toronto Raptors and Detroit.
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 27.5 points in the East finals, while forward Evan Mobley has been strong with 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Mobley and Allen continue to struggle from the foul line, combining to make just 10 of 20 attempts in Game 2.
Cleveland’s biggest concern, though, remains guard James Harden. Three poor games in a row have dropped his playoff field goal percentage to 40.7% and his 3-point percentage to 32.5%. His postseason averages are 19.6 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 turnovers.
“I don’t know if it was tired legs or whatever, but we had a lot of really good looks,” said Harden, who was 6 of 15 from the field in Game 2, during which the Cavaliers shot 38.8%. “We just didn’t make shots. It’s just part of the game.”
New York is 7-1 all-time in playoff games at Cleveland and has won all four postseason series against the Cavaliers.
–Brian Dulik, Field Level Media
