CLEVELAND — The New York Knicks are one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. It could happen as soon as Monday.
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and Mikal Bridges added 22 as New York never trailed in a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
The third-seeded Knicks have won a franchise-record 10 straight playoff games — by an average margin of 22.5 points — in becoming the 10th team in league history with a double-digit winning streak in a single postseason. Five of the prior nine brought home the championship.
Game 4 is Monday in Cleveland.
“When we play our style of basketball, everybody eats,” New York forward Josh Hart said. “That’s what we’re just trying to do. I’m not surprised at all because we’ve got really good players.
“ … We’re 1-0 today. On Monday, we’re 0-0. We’re far from our goal.”
Karl-Anthony Towns collected 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for New York, which also received 21 points from OG Anunoby. Hart had 12 points, nine rebounds and a playoff-career-high-tying four steals.
Nine of the Knicks’ 10 consecutive wins have been by at least 10 points, including all three against the fourth-seeded Cavaliers.
“We feel — and we always have felt — the sky is the limit with this team,” said Towns, who has two triple-doubles this postseason. “We do a great job of adjusting as the game goes on. I always adapt to what the game needs of me.”
Evan Mobley scored 24 points, Donovan Mitchell had 23 and James Harden added 19 for the Cavaliers, who appeared fatigued for the second game in a row after playing every other day since April 29. All three players also committed at least five turnovers.
Cleveland shot 63.2% from the foul line (12 of 19) and was 12-of-41 on 3-pointers (29.3%).
“I felt after Game 2, we were in a good place. This is a tough one, to get down 3-0,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Cleveland needed the full seven games to beat the Toronto Raptors in the first round and the Detroit Pistons in the East semifinals. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit in any playoff series.
“There is definitely a toll there, but you’re in the Eastern Conference finals so there are no excuses right now,” Mobley said. “ … In moments like this, your back’s against the wall. The best thing to do is just come together as a team and fight our way out, take it game-by-game, step-by-step.”
Brunson took over in the third with 12 points, pushing New York out to its largest lead at 83-70. Landry Shamet buried three 3-pointers in a 99-second span early in the fourth and Anunoby delivered the dagger with a 3-pointer that made it 110-93 with 5:30 to go.
Shamet finished with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from outside the arc and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. He also had three assists off the bench, coming up big for the second time in the series.
“It’s the next-man-up mentality and the guys found me a few times,” Shamet said. “We knew we were going to get a real good punch from that team, and we weathered their best punches tonight.”
The Cavaliers forged their first of two ties at 48-48 on a Harden layup in the second quarter, but the Knicks held a 60-54 advantage at the half. Anunoby scored 13 points in 15 minutes while Harden had 14 points and Mitchell and Jarrett Allen each had 12.
Bridges had four points in the first two minutes as New York jumped in front 9-1, then extended it to 29-19 behind 11 points without a miss from Towns. Mitchell had seven points for Cleveland, which trailed 37-27 after the first.
Sitting courtside were superstar singer Taylor Swift and her fiance Travis Kelce, a Kansas City Chiefs tight end who grew up in neighboring Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
–Brian Dulik, Field Level Media
