Cleveland has made a habit of fighting back from deficits throughout these NBA playoffs.
However, the Cavaliers have never faced an opponent playing as well as New York is right now.
Josh Hart rebounded from a disappointing first game by contributing nine points during an 18-point third-quarter scoring streak for New York on Thursday evening, helping the home team secure a 109-93 victory over Cleveland and take a 2-0 advantage in the Eastern Conference finals.
New York has now captured both opening games of this best-of-seven matchup at home, following their 115-104 overtime victory on Tuesday when they erased a 22-point fourth-quarter disadvantage.
The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday evening.
The third-seeded New York squad will enter Saturday’s contest exactly one month since their last defeat and just two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
New York has captured nine consecutive games, establishing a franchise record for victories in a single postseason run, dating back to a 109-108 defeat against Atlanta in Game 3 of their opening-round matchup on April 23.
Eight of those nine wins came by double-digit margins as New York has accumulated a plus-221 scoring differential, the highest mark through any team’s initial 12 playoff contests in league history.
“We’re hungry for the opportunity to go out there and play basketball at the highest level,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said, “but we also understand that you can never be satisfied in these positions in the playoffs. The mindset’s going to continue to be 0-0 every single time we step on that court.”
Hart recorded 26 points, establishing a new personal best for postseason play. He connected on 10 of 21 field goal attempts, including 5 of 11 three-point shots, while contributing seven assists. He managed only 13 points in Tuesday’s opener.
“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Towns recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds while Jalen Brunson contributed 19 points and a career-playoff-high 14 assists, giving New York two players with double-doubles. Mikal Bridges added 19 points and OG Anunoby chipped in 14.
“We don’t really care who gets the shine, the shots, the minutes, those kind of things — we’re focused on winning,” Hart said. “I think everyone is willing to sacrifice their own personal agendas or performance for the betterment of the team. And when you have a group of guys that do that, sky’s the limit.”
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 26 points while Jarrett Allen recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who now trail 2-0 for the second consecutive series. Cleveland defeated Detroit in seven games during the conference semifinals.
The Cavaliers also required seven games to eliminate Toronto in the opening round, though Cleveland had jumped ahead 2-0 in that series.
“This isn’t our first time facing adversity,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been to two Game 7s, so being down 2-0, it’s not the biggest challenge. It’s right there. So let’s go ahead and take advantage of it.”
James Harden contributed 18 points while Evan Mobley added 14 for Cleveland, which managed just 38.8% shooting (31-for-80) from the floor — including 25.7% (9-for-35) from three-point territory — and 68.8% (22-for-32) from the free-throw line.
“Wasn’t a great shooting night,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the hole. Tonight, we didn’t.”
Both teams stayed within six points of each other during the opening half, when Hart and Anunoby collaborated on an 8-4 scoring run to close the second quarter and give New York a 53-49 halftime advantage.
Allen and Mitchell each scored to begin the third quarter, tying the contest for the last time before Brunson’s 28-foot shot ignited the 18-0 scoring burst.
Cleveland missed all seven field goal attempts and both free throw tries while turning the ball over twice during New York’s decisive run, which concluded when Hart connected on a three-pointer to push the lead to 71-53 with 5:35 remaining in the period.
New York held an 85-70 advantage entering the fourth quarter before Cleveland made one final push by scoring the opening eight points. However, Anunoby answered with a three-pointer at the 8:39 mark and Cleveland managed to get within single digits only once more.
New York’s lead reached as high as 19 points in the closing minutes.
