CLEVELAND (AP) — With the New York Knicks riding a remarkable 10-game winning streak and standing just one victory away from the NBA Finals, Jalen Brunson refuses to get ahead of himself or dwell on past successes.
Instead, Brunson and his teammates are laser-focused on the opening moments of Monday night’s Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“So you have the first possession, the first quarter, and then you have the end of the first half and you go on,” Brunson explained following Saturday’s 121-108 win. “You just continue to just deal with what’s in front of you and just have your teammates’ back. Make sure everyone’s on the same page, making sure that everyone’s holding each other accountable. That’s just the most important thing right now.”
This tunnel-vision mentality has propelled New York to their current 10-game victory run, with the team dominating opponents by an average of 22.5 points per game. The Knicks now sit one win away from reaching their first championship series since 1999.
Throughout NBA history, no team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit, and New York shows no indication of becoming the first squad to surrender such an advantage across 164 attempts.
Each time observers believe the Knicks have reached their ceiling, the team discovers another level. Forward OG Anunoby, who sat out the final two contests of the Philadelphia series with a strained right hamstring, contributed 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists in Saturday’s triumph.
During the current winning streak, Anunoby ranks second on the team in scoring, putting up 19.8 points across eight games.
Brunson has been posting 29 points per game in this series and 27.8 throughout the playoffs, while Karl-Anthony Towns is recording a double-double with 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds, plus 6.1 assists.
According to Brunson, the team’s depth and preparedness philosophy has been evident throughout the series.
“We have a bunch of individuals in that we locker room who work really hard and they’re very psychotic about their work and the things they do, and making sure that they’re ready physically and mentally so when their number’s called and then when there’s time to go out there, they’re ready,” Brunson noted. “We have a lot of real professionals on our roster.”
New York has controlled the series momentum ever since mounting a comeback from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Cleveland 115-104 in the opener. Towns emphasized that despite their commanding position, the Knicks maintain the same urgency they had at the series start.
“We’ve got to come out with that same desperation as Game 1. What got us here as a team, we’ve won all these games in a row as a team, we’ve had this winning streak as a team. As long as we stay together, we stay unified, we always have felt that the sky’s the limit for us,” he stated.
The scheduling disparity shows Cleveland preparing for their 14th contest since April 29, compared to New York’s ninth game in that span.
The Cavaliers are struggling from beyond the arc at just 29.4% and have converted 50 of 74 free throw attempts. While Donovan Mitchell continues averaging 26 points in the series, he appears to lack the explosive speed displayed in earlier playoff rounds.
Coach Kenny Atkinson hopes his squad can discover enough energy to prevent a sweep, but acknowledges his players are exhausted after surviving back-to-back seven-game series against Toronto and Detroit to reach their first Eastern Conference final in eight years.
“I said it before this series, the rest disadvantage is real. It’s massive, right? And it plays into it. I don’t think anybody has a grip on what that really means saying, ‘Well why are you shooting so below expected? Is that a part of it?’ I don’t know. I don’t have that answer,” he admitted.
