The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the New York Knicks for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. New York has been dominating the postseason as they had won 10 straight and were up 3-0 vs the Cavs. The Knicks’ dominance would continue tonight.
Evan Mobley got the scoring started with a layup in the lane. On the next possession, Donovan Mitchell knocked down a three as the Cavs jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Mitchell and Josh Hart would trade threes. OG Anunoby threw down a vicious slam on Max Strus to make it a 9-0 run for the Knicks. Mitchell Robinson tipped in a shot off the miss with less than a minute left in the first quarter. New York led 38-26 at the end of the first quarter. They had 13 fastbreak points in the first quarter.
The Knicks went on a 12-0 run in the beginning of the second quarter. A Karl-Anthony Towns putback dunk made it a 20-0 run since the 2:12 mark in the first quarter. Mikal Bridges was hounded by James Harden and cashed in a fadeaway with the shot clock winding down. The Knicks led 68-49 at halftime.
Max Strus threw a lob to Jarrett Allen to begin the third quarter. In transition off the Anunoby steal, Jalen Brunson threw a lob to Anunoby for the one-handed flush. Brunson missed a three but Anunoby threw it down for the putback slam. A Brunson three and a Landry Shamet dunk made it a 30-point lead for the Knicks. Mitchell got an and-one layup with 0.4 seconds left in the quarter. He missed the free throw as it has been a struggle from the line in this series for Mitchell.
The Knicks led 98-71 at the end of the third quarter. Towns drove right at Jarrett Allen that got the scoring started in the fourth quarter. Miles McBride made a corner three and you could hear the “DEUCE” chants from the New York faithful in Cleveland. A Shamet steal led to an Anunoby slam. Both teams would start to empty their bench. A Pacome Dadiet layup made it a 12-0 run less than halfway through the fourth quarter. New York won 130-93.
The Knicks completed back-to-back sweeps and advanced to the NBA finals for the first time since 1999. It was also their 11th straight playoff win.
Mitchell led the way for the Cavs with 31 points. Mobley had 15 , Harden had 12, and Thomas Bryant had 10 points in nine minutes.
For the Knicks, Towns led the way with 19 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double. Brunson and Bridges both had 15 points. Anunoby had 17, Shamet had 16, and McBride had 11 points. Shamet was on fire in the series, shooting 11-for-12 from three-point range. As a team the Knicks made 19 threes on the night. Brunson was named ECF Finals MVP with averages of 25.5 points-per-game, 3.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and shot 49% from the field.
The Knicks await the winner of the Spurs vs Thunder series. Game one of the NBA Finals is Wednesday June 3 at 8:30 p.m.
