Jalen Brunson scored 30 points as the New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, moving one victory away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Mikal Bridges added 22 points and OG Anunoby finished with 21 for New York, which led wire to wire and can clinch the series with a win in Game 4 on Monday night.
The Knicks extended their postseason winning streak to 10 games, becoming the seventh team in NBA history to reach that mark in a single playoff run. New York has won all but one of those games by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points. The franchise’s surge has put it on the brink of a return to the NBA Finals, a stage it has not reached in more than two decades.
Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Landry Shamet delivered a key second-half stretch off the bench. Shamet hit three 3-pointers in a 99-second span in the fourth quarter to help New York pull away after Cleveland had cut into the lead. The Knicks shot 55.8% from the field, made 11 3-pointers and connected on 24 of 27 free throws.
New York started fast, making its first four shots to jump ahead 9-1 less than two minutes into the game. The Knicks shot 12 of 17 in the opening quarter and led 37-27 after one period. Cleveland answered with a rally in the second quarter and tied the game at 50 on a jumper by James Harden, but the Knicks responded with a 10-1 run and took a 60-54 lead into halftime.
Brunson helped New York regain control in the third quarter, scoring six points during an 8-1 run that pushed the Knicks’ lead to 83-70. The Cavaliers never fully recovered. New York entered the fourth quarter up 91-82 and quickly stretched the margin into double digits again, closing the door on Cleveland’s comeback hopes.
Evan Mobley led the Cavaliers with 24 points, Donovan Mitchell scored 23 and Harden added 19. Cleveland struggled from long range, finishing 12 of 41 from 3-point range, and also went just 12 of 19 from the foul line. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said his team could not match New York’s physicality and energy, adding that the Knicks have maintained momentum throughout the series.
The game was played with a loud New York crowd that chanted “Knicks in four” late in the contest. Even an appearance by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce did not change the outcome, as the Cavaliers fell behind early and never found a sustained answer to the Knicks’ pace, shot-making and defensive pressure.
