The New York Knicks are on fire. They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 on Thursday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, stretching their postseason winning streak to nine straight and taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Josh Hart powered the win with a playoff career-high 26 points, shooting 10-of-21 from the field and 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Jalen Brunson did not need to score much early to steer the game, finishing the first three quarters with nine points on 4-of-12 shooting and 1-of-7 from deep, but he also had 11 assists and only one turnover. New York also won the third quarter 32-21, a burst that helped turn a close game into a comfortable one.
The Cavaliers had trouble matching that pace or the Knicks' balance. Cleveland shot 25.9 percent from 3-point range, going 9-of-35 from downtown, and missed 10 free throws in a game in which every empty possession mattered. The Knicks were not clean everywhere — they gave up 13 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points — but they still forced enough misses and protected the ball well enough to keep control. Both teams finished with eight turnovers, leaving a total of 16 in the game.
That kind of margin matters because New York had nine days off before the series began, and there was a real question about whether the layoff would dull the Knicks' edge. Instead, they have won nine consecutive playoff games and turned the first two rounds of the East finals into a statement. Hart's scoring burst gave the team the lift it needed, while Brunson's passing kept the offense moving even when his shot was not falling.
For Cleveland, the trip home now carries immediate pressure. The Cavaliers are down 0-2 and have won four of the last five games in each of their previous two playoff series, so they have shown before that they can reset quickly. But this version has looked short on energy after playing 16 games in the last month, and Donovan Mitchell looks hobbled on the court. The next game is less about speeches than the basics. As one view of the matchup put it, Cleveland needs the easy points, while New York still has one obvious area to clean up: rebounding.
Game 3 will tell whether the Cavaliers can make home court matter or whether the Knicks' run keeps moving toward something bigger. Right now, New York has the series, the momentum and the sharper legs.
