New York Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years after dominating the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 on Monday night to complete a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference finals.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while OG Anunoby added 17 points. Landry Shamet contributed 16 points off the bench, and both Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson scored 15 points apiece.
The victory extended New York’s postseason winning streak to 11 games, making the Knicks just the fourth team since the NBA-ABA merger to accomplish the feat. The last team to do so was the Golden State Warriors during their 2017 championship run.
With the Knicks holding a commanding 35-point lead late in the fourth quarter, head coach Mike Brown pulled his starters with 7:47 remaining as traveling New York fans erupted into chants of “Knicks in four!”
The crowd inside Cleveland’s arena featured a strong Knicks presence, including celebrity supporters Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner.
New York will now face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. The Western Conference finals series is tied 2-2, with Game 5 scheduled Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
The Knicks are making their third NBA Finals appearance since winning their last championship in 1973. They previously fell to the Houston Rockets in 1994 and the Spurs in 1999.
The Finals appearance also marks the second of Brown’s coaching career and his first season leading New York after replacing Tom Thibodeau, who guided the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals last season before losing to the Indiana Pacers.
For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 31 points, but the Cavaliers were swept in a playoff series for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State.
Mitchell opened the game aggressively, scoring Cleveland’s first eight points as the Cavaliers built an early 8-2 lead. But after Evan Mobley gave Cleveland a 17-14 advantage with a putback dunk, New York seized control with a decisive 9-0 run and never looked back.
