{"id":687464,"date":"2026-05-22T14:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687464\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:13:08","slug":"knicks-in-four-chants-ring-out-at-msg-as-new-york-take-2-0-lead-in-east-finals-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/687464\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Knicks in four!\u2019 chants ring out at MSG as New York take 2-0 lead in East finals | NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> 109-93 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their ninth straight game. It is the NBA\u2019s longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship.<\/p>\n

Hart went 5 from 11 from three-point range and also had seven assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a whale of a game from Josh,\u201d Knicks coach Mike Brown said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit<\/a> in the fourth quarter, the Knicks made sure they would be in control late with an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 71-53 lead. Fans chanted \u201cKnicks in four! Knicks in four!\u201d<\/a> in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our mind it\u2019s 0-0. We\u2019ve got to win the next game. It\u2019s the most important game of the year and that\u2019s how we treat it,\u201d Towns said.<\/p>\n

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing to hang our head about,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cThey protected home court, and we\u2019ve seen this before so we\u2019re going to go to Game 3.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but haven\u2019t played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.<\/p>\n

Brunson scored 38 points in the Game 1 comeback. He had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the run that broke open the game and finished the highest assist total of his playoff career.<\/p>\n

Hart burned a Cavaliers defensive strategy that seemed built around leaving him open from long range after he was benched for the rally in Game 1, playing just three minutes combined in the fourth quarter and overtime.<\/p>\n

The forward had been shooting just 26.7% from three-point range and after a third straight miss from long range early Thursday, he put his jersey in his mouth and bit it, bouncing the ball down hard in frustration three times. But he kept firing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I\u2019d be good,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n

Mitchell got off to a slow start with just seven points in the first half, triggering more of the questions that followed Game 1 about whether he was injured.<\/p>\n

Cleveland cut it to single digits with just under eight minutes left but ruined any chance of getting closer with poor free-throw shooting, missing 10 in the game and finishing at 68.8%. The Knicks eventually pushed their lead to 19 points.<\/p>\n