The New York Knicks hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. New York won game one in historic fashion coming back from a 22-point deficit. The garden crowd and the Knicks fans outside with the watch party were ready for gametime.
Jalen Brunson got the scoring started with a floater in the lane. Karl-Anthony Towns made a three to get a quick 5-0 start for the Knicks. Cleveland would go on a 8-0 run as Evan Mobley made two threes in that stretch. Towns drove right at Jarrett Allen on back to back possessions that forced a Cavs timeout. Mobley drove baseline for a reverse slam. Donovan Mitchell hit a crossover stepback three with time winding down. The Cavs led 27-24 at the end of the first quarter. Miles McBride hit a pull up jumper to get the scoring started in the second quarter. James Harden drove past Brunson and Mitchell Robinson swatted Harden’s floater. Josh Hart spun right around Allen for the easy layup which drew “ooos” and “ahhs” from the garden crowd. New York led 53-49 entering halftime.
Cleveland tied the game at 53 but after that it would be all Knicks. Hart made a top of the key three to make it a 18-0 run. Hart would make another three as the Cavs would continue to leave him open. Hart had three threes in the third quarter. Towns made a stepback three with the shot clock winding down. Brunson threw a lob to Mitchell Robinson as the shot clock was once again winding down. Mitchell was able to get a euro step layup off the glass with 16 seconds left in the quarter. The Knicks outscored Cleveland 32-21 and led 85-70 at the end of the third quarter.
Cleveland began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run. OG Anunoby made a three that ended the run. Mikal Bridges made a corner three to bring the Knicks lead to 13 and forced a Cavs timeout. Right out of the timeout, Harden made a corner three. Brunson and Hart made tough back to back buckets that got the friendly roll. Brunson faked a pass and finished with the floater in the lane. “Knicks in four” chants were all around the garden as time was winding down. New York won 109-93 and defended homecourt.
Hart led the way for the Knicks with 26 points which was a postseason career-high for him. Brunson had 19 points along with 14 assists which was a postseason career-high for him and Bridges also had 19 points. Towns had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Anunoby finished with 14 points. Mitchell led the way for the Cavs with 26 points. Harden had 18 points and six rebounds.
The Cavs’ bigs did most of their work in the first half as in the second half they weren’t much of a factor. Mobley finished with 14 points as all of his points came in the first half. In the second half, Mobley attempted zero field goals. Allen was 2-of-4 from the field in the second half. He finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
New York leads the series 2-0. The series shifts to Cleveland for game 3 this Saturday May 23 at 8 p.m.
