No comeback needed this time.
The New York Knicks followed up their dramatic Game 1 rally with a dominant Game 2 rout, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 at Madison Square Garden to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks are now two wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, with Game 3 set for Saturday at 8 p.m. in Cleveland.
Josh Hart scored a postseason career-high 26 points and added seven assists. He shot 5-for-11 from deep, including a pair of 3’s during an 18-0 Knicks run in the third quarter that opened a 71-53 lead.
The Cavs cut the lead to seven with just under nine minutes remaining, but OG Anunoby answered with a 3 to put the Knicks up 88-78. The Knicks later went on a 9-1 run to open an 18-point lead, their largest of the game, to seal the win and extend their winning streak to nine games.
Jalen Brunson struggled with his shot but finished with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting and a playoff career-high 14 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded another double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Mikal Bridges had 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting, and Anunoby added 14 points.
The win came two days after Brunson sparked one of the NBA’s greatest postseason comebacks in Game 1 on Tuesday, helping the Knicks erase what was a 93-71 deficit with 7:52 to play in a 115-104 overtime victory.
The Knicks, as they did in Game 1, struggled early from deep, missing nine of their first 12 3-point attempts and finishing the first half 6-for-19. But they shot 51% from the field overall in the first half to take a 53-49 lead into the break, led by Towns (13 points), Hart (12 points) and Bridges (10 points).
Brunson, after scoring just two points in the first half, scored seven points early in the third during the 18-0 run as the Knicks outscored the Cavs 32-21 in the third.
The Knicks shot 52% from the field in the win, going 13 for 36 from deep. The Cavs shot just 39 percent, going 9 for 35 from 3-point range and shooting just 69% from the free-throw line (22-for-32). Donovan Mitchell scored 19 of his team-high 26 points in the second half, and James Harden scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half.
Sam Merrill, who narrowly missed hitting the game-winner from deep at the end of regulation in Game 1, missed all seven of his 3-point attempts and finished with just four points.
The Knicks, for the second straight season, sit two victories away from the Finals, but this time under very different circumstances. In last season’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks lost the first two games of the series on their home court en route to losing in six games.
This year’s Knicks team protected home court and has gone 10-2 in the postseason, with both losses coming in the first round by one-point each.
The Knicks will try and top Tuesday night’s incredible comeback win in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Fans have their sights set high. NBC New York’s John Chandler reports.
