For the first time since 1999, the New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals after yet another comprehensive dismantling of the Cleveland Cavaliers, 130-93, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night at Rocket Arena.
Now just four wins away from ending a 53-year championship drought, the Knicks await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, with Game 1 of the NBA Finals tipping off on June 3.
Five Knicks scored in double figures, with Jalen Brunson posting 15 points with five assists in three quarters and OG Anunoby adding 17 points of his own. Karl-Anthony Towns added a monster double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, as Mike Brown’s squad is playing as seamless, free-flowing, and beautiful team basketball as one will ever find this time of year. New York has now won 11 straight playoff games by an astounding average margin of 23.6 points — the best playoff point differential in NBA history
This was not just domination; this was the breaking of the Cavaliers’ spirit.
As had been the case all series, every slim glimpse of Cleveland hope was doused by swift and decisive New York answers.
Up 30-26 in the second quarter, they killed the Cavs’ spirit with a 20-0 run, which was the third-largest unanswered run in a playoff game in the play-by-play era in franchise history and their largest ever in a series-clinching game.
When the hosts cut the deficit to 16 early in the third, the visitors answered with a 12-0 run, helping put the game to bed by holding a 98-71 advantage heading into the final stanza.
It allowed Brown to sit Brunson for the entire fourth quarter, which is not new at this stage. The Knicks’ captain has not played a single second in the fourth quarter of each of his team’s three series-clinching games: A 51-point Game 6 blowout in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks and a 33-point smackdown in the conference semifinals in Philadelphia against the 76ers.
They dominated the glass, outrebounding the Cavaliers 60-33. Their depth was incomparable, their bench holding a 58-24 advantage. Landry Shamet led the charge for the Knicks’ second unit as he has all postseason, recording 16 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
The reserve guard hit 12 of his 13 three-point attempts taken in the conference final.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was brilliant, pouring in 31 points, but his supporting cast was largely non-existent — particularly James Harden, who was held to 12 points.
It’s a testament to the Knicks’ staunch defense and the way Brown has handled his roster in his first season at the helm of this starving franchise. This is just the team’s fifth-ever conference title (1972, 1973, 1994, 1999), a remarkably low number for such a high-profile team. That, however, does not matter, especially on nights like this, as New York moves ever so closer to taking a rightful place at the center of the basketball universe.
For more on the Knicks, visit AMNY.com
