NEW YORK, NY — The New York Knicks are now two wins away from the 2026 NBA Finals after another dominant second-half performance pushed them past the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-93, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.
After rallying from 22 points down in Game 1, the Knicks once again overwhelmed Cleveland late, using a massive third-quarter run and a career night from Josh Hart to take a commanding 2-0 series lead before the best of seven series shifts to Cleveland.
Hart delivered one of the biggest playoff performances of his career, finishing with a postseason career-high 26 points along with seven assists, four rebounds and five three-pointers. After missing his first three attempts from deep and visibly showing frustration early in the game, the 31-year-old guard responded by knocking down five of his next eight shots from beyond the arc.
“That’s who Josh is. He’s a gamer,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said postgame. “He knew what adjustments he needed to make in order to be effective, not just for him but for the team.”
Cleveland’s defensive strategy from the start centered around forcing Hart to shoot while trapping Jalen Brunson aggressively throughout the night. Brunson answered Cleveland not by scoring, but by controlling the game as a facilitator. Despite scoring just two first-half points, the Knicks’ 29-year-old superstar finished with 19 points (10 in the fourth quarter) and a playoff career-high 14 assists while orchestrating New York’s ball movement.
“As an MVP candidate, Jalen Brunson’s job is to make the game easier for his teammates—and that’s what he did,” Brown said. “If you don’t send the second guy at him, he’s got a pretty good chance of scoring. If you send a second guy at him, he’s going to make the game easier for his teammates. They just have to step up and make shots.”
The game changed entirely in the third quarter.
After leading 53-49 at halftime, New York opened the second half on an 18-4 run fueled by defensive stops, transition offense and Hart’s shooting barrage. Brunson began attacking downhill, Karl-Anthony Towns continued his efficient night inside and Mikal Bridges added timely scoring as the Knicks stretched the lead to double digits.
Towns finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 7-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range—the Dominican-American’s seventh double-double this postseason.
Bridges added 19 points on an ultra-efficient 9-for-12 shooting performance. New York finished the night with 32 assists on 44 made field goals and shot 51.8 percent from the floor overall.
The Cavaliers struggled to recover after their strong opening half faded away. Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 26 points, but concerns about his explosiveness became a storyline throughout the game. Evan Mobley tacked on 14 points while Jarrett Allen finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland shot just 38.8 percent from the floor and 25.7 percent from three-point range after starting the game hot from deep.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson on Brunson’s ECF Game 2 performance: “That’s what great players do, right? They read the game, and the game dictated that.”
With Thursday night’s Game 2 win in the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Cavaliers, the Knicks are now two wins away from the NBA Finals which would mark New York’s first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 – Image Credit: NBA/Getty Images
The Knicks have now won nine straight playoff games, setting a new franchise postseason record—also becoming just the 13th team in NBA history to win nine consecutive games during a single postseason run.
With momentum fully behind them and Madison Square Garden roaring throughout the second half, New York now heads to Cleveland needing just two more victories to reach its first NBA Finals since 1999 with Game 3 scheduled for Saturday night.
“We don’t feel any closer than we did last game or any game,” KAT said as the Knicks are now off to Cleveland. “In our minds, it’s back to 0-0. We got to win the next game, it’s the most important game of the year.”
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