By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK — 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, 109-93, on Thursday night.
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. That’s the NBA’s longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship.
Hart shot 5 for 11 from 3-point range and also had seven assists.
“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit 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 “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!” in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches.
“In our mind it’s 0-0. We’ve got to win the next game. It’s the most important game of the year and that’s how we treat it,” Towns said.
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 night.
“Nothing to hang our head about,” Mitchell said. “They protected home court, and we’ve seen this before so we’re going to go to Game 3.”
The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but haven’t played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.
Brunson scored 38 points and led 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.
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.
The forward had been shooting just 26.7% from 3-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.
“I knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I’d be good,” Hart said.
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. His 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left gave Cleveland a 27-24 lead after one.
The Knicks led 53-49 at halftime. The Cavs got the first two baskets of the third to tie it, but Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to start the 18-0 run. He had two more buckets in the burst and Hart hit a pair of 3-pointers, the latter capping it to make it 71-53 with 5:36 remaining in the third. After the Cavs scored five straight, Hart made another 3-pointer and Towns scored to restore the 18-point advantage.
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.
CAVS IN TROUBLE IF MITCHELL IS HURT
Mitchell insists he is feeling good. Actually even better than that.
He had better be, or the Cavaliers are in trouble.
Questions about Mitchell’s health persisted after he and his teammates lost Game 2. Twice this week has been asked if he’s playing through any sort of injury.
“I’m great,” he said. “Great. Great.”
It’s the same word Cleveland’s leading scorer used after Game 1, when he scuffled down the stretch. In Game 2, he at least showed some signs of progress.
At halftime, Coach Kenny Atkinson agreed with the idea that Mitchell was lacking the usual burst on his lift.
“After halftime, I thought he was moving well,” Atkinson said. “Donovan, he’s not complaining about it to me. I did see him trying to work through it – probably some stiffness. But I asked him if he wanted to come out in the fourth quarter and he’s like, ‘I’m fine,’ so I think he’s fine.”
The deficit is not fine and dandy for the Cavaliers, though it is one they are accustomed to overcoming. They trailed Detroit by this same margin last round before winning the series in seven games.
“This isn’t our first time at it,” Mitchell said. “This isn’t our first time facing adversity. We’ve been through two Game 7s, so being down 2-0 is not the biggest challenge.”
There are plenty of big challenges in this series, including how to slow New York’s one-two punch of Brunson and Hart and not let either take over. Then add in self-inflicted issues, like Cleveland getting to the free-throw line 32 times but missing 10 of those attempts in a game that got closer at times than the final 109-93 score indicates.
The Cavs made just 37% of their shots from the floor, too, and were 9 for 35 from 3-point range. That’s not exactly a winning recipe in the playoffs or any time.
“It wasn’t a great shooting night,” Atkinson said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the hole. Tonight, we didn’t.”
Game 3 will be Cleveland’s seventh game over a 13-day period, facing an opponent that swept through the last round and has what Atkinson calls a “massive rest advantage.” Center Jarrett Allen acknowledged fatigue might be playing a role but didn’t want to use it as an excuse for falling behind in the series.
Mitchell is having none of that talk whatsoever.
“We’re not tired,” Mitchell said. “We’re not tired. We’re ready to go for Game 3.”