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.
The Knicks can wrap up the Eastern Conference Finals and sweep their second straight series with a win on Monday night. Knicks fans – who were boisterous throughout the night – were chanting “Knicks in four” as the final seconds of Game 3 ticked away.
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. Cleveland, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers have done it twice.
All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23)
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Cleveland native Travis Kelce downed a beer courtside sat alongside fiancee Taylor Swift but even that couldn’t help the Cavaliers past the Knicks!
“We’ve just have to keep our mind on the task at hand. The game is over and we found a way to win. We have to execute at a high level in Game 4,” said Karl Anthony-Towns, who had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
OG Anunoby had 21 points as New York led the entire game. The Knicks not only made 55.8% of their shots from the field, they also had 11 3-pointers and were 24 of 27 from the foul line.
Evan Mobley scored 24 points, Donovan Mitchell had 23 points and James Harden added 19 for Cleveland. The Cavaliers were 12 of 41 on 3-pointers and 12 of 19 from the foul line.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce watch the second half of Game 3 in the Eastern Conference finals
Not even an appearance by the superstar couple of Taylor Swift and Cleveland Heights native Travis Kelce could spur the Cavs to a win.
“I think their physicality and energy, we couldn’t get to that level to combat it,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They’re on a hell of a run. We haven’t been able to stop the momentum. We had one chance in that first game I thought to stop it, but they haven’t been able to halt their momentum.”
“Our guys were locked in from the beginning of the game and it showed from the first few minutes of the game. We got a lot of great contributions,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23)
“I thought throughout the whole game we did a good job trying to play fast. We don’t want to go against their set defense all the time, so we’ve got to keep trying to play fast. And then our guys did a better job in the second half trying to defend without fouling.”
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