The Knicks took control of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night, beating the Cavaliers in Game 2 to move ahead 2-0 and stretch their winning streak to nine straight games. Game 3 is set for Saturday at 8 ET on ABC, with Cleveland returning home trying to stop a series that has already tilted hard toward New York.
Josh Hart powered the latest win with a playoff-career high 26 points, while the Knicks have outscored opponents by 18.4 points per game across 12 playoff games. That margin reflects how complete they have looked through two rounds and now into the conference finals, where they have turned a competitive matchup into a two-game cushion.
The Cavaliers have had their own chances to change the series, but they have let both slip away. In Game 1, they blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead, then in Game 2 Evan Mobley scored 14 points in the first half before going scoreless after halftime and not attempting a shot in the second half. Cleveland’s best interior options have not been the problem this week; the shots simply have not gone in when the game has tightened.
That has been most obvious from 3-point range, where the Cavaliers’ shot quality has actually been better in the conference finals than it was through the first two rounds. James Harden, Sam Merrill, Dennis Schröder, Max Strus and Jaylon Tyson should be a combined 18-for-48 from deep based on the looks they have created, a 38% expectation, but they are only 11-for-48, or 23%. For a team that has needed every open shot it can get, that gap has been too large to survive.
The series now shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4, and the home floor gives the Cavaliers one more chance to make the matchup look like the one their shot quality says it should be. They have been here before, down 2-0 and forced to protect home court, but the burden is heavier now because the Knicks have already shown they can win in different ways. Hart delivered the scoring in Game 2, the defense has held up, and the Knicks have kept the pressure on from the opening tip through the final possessions.
What happens next is straightforward: Cleveland has to turn cleaner looks into made shots, or New York can spend Saturday night one win from closing in on the NBA Finals.
