The Cavaliers and New York Knicks met in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. and a national telecast carrying every possession. Cleveland had no players listed on its injury report, and New York had none either as the series returned to Manhattan for a game both sides needed in a hurry.
New York grabbed a 5-0 lead to open the night, but Cleveland answered fast and led 15-11 with 7:16 left in the first quarter. Jalen Brunson had already shown how quickly the Knicks could turn a possession into points, slipping past James Harden for a floater, while Dean Wade's errant in-bounds pass set up a Karl-Anthony Towns 3-pointer. The Cavaliers then steadied themselves with an 8-0 run, and Evan Mobley accounted for five of those points. Donovan Mitchell had yet to score in the opening period at the time of the update, and Josh Hart was 0-for-3 from 3-point range.
For fans following along at home, the game was also available on WTAM 1100-AM and WMMS 100.7-FM locally in Cleveland, with Radio carrying the national broadcast. If you want the broader setup behind the series, see Knicks Game Tonight: Game 2 shifts after Brunson’s late surge in Game 1. New York entered the night up 1-0 after erasing a 22-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1, outscoring Cleveland 44-11 over the final 12-plus minutes before winning 115-104 in overtime. Brunson led the way in that opener with 38 points, while Mikal Bridges scored 18 and Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Towns each finished with 13. Mitchell had 29 for Cleveland, Evan Mobley 15, Harden 15, Sam Merrill 12, and Jarrett Allen and Wade 10 apiece.
The stakes go beyond one game. The winner of the Eastern Conference Finals will move on to the NBA title series against either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs, with the Western Conference Finals tied 1-1. Cleveland came in having gone 1-2 against New York in the 2025-26 regular season, and the Cavaliers had never beaten the Knicks in a playoff series before this one. Their all-time postseason record against New York was 2-12 entering the Eastern Conference Finals, which made every swing in this matchup feel heavier than a typical May night at the Garden. The first quarter already had that feel: a fast start, a quick counterpunch and a Cleveland team trying to prove that Game 1 did not define the series.
That is the tension inside this knicks game. The Knicks have already shown they can erase a deficit that looks fatal, and the Cavaliers have already shown they can answer the bell when the pace turns sharp. What matters now is whether Cleveland can keep control long enough to stop this series from becoming one more New York comeback story.
