CLEVELAND — Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Mikal Bridges added 22 and the New York Knicks moved within one game of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 with a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
OG Anunoby had 21 points as New York led the entire game. The Knicks were 43-of-77 from the field, including 11-of-28 on 3-pointers. They were also 24-of-27 from the foul line.
The Knicks can wrap up the Eastern Conference finals and sweep their second straight series with a win Monday night. New York is the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics, who also went on a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title.
All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits. Their point differential of plus-225 over the past 10 games is also the largest in a 10-game span in NBA history — including the regular season and the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.
Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, and James Harden added 21 for Cleveland. The Cavaliers were 12-of-41 on 3-pointers and 12-of-19 from the foul line.
New York led 91-82 at the end of the third quarter, but put it out of reach in the fourth when Landry Shamet made three 3-pointers in 99 seconds to make it 105-94.
The Knicks made their first four shots en route to a 9-1 lead less than two minutes into the game. New York was 12-of-17 from the field in the quarter and was up 37-27 after 12 minutes.
Cleveland rallied and tied it at 50-all on a jumper by Harden before the Knicks countered with a 10-1 run. They went into halftime with a 60-54 advantage.
Brunson had six of his 12 points during an 8-1 run midway through the third quarter as the Knicks extended their lead to 83-70 with 3:41 remaining.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
