New York Knicks produce 18-point surge in win over Cleveland Cavaliers

New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93, scoring 18 unanswered points and taking a 2-0 lead in the seven-game final of the Eastern Conference.

The score was tied at 53-53 as the Knicks took a 71-53 lead to their ninth straight victory at home at Madison Square Garden.

For the home team, Josh Hart scored 26 points, including five three-pointers, while his teammate Jalen Brunson, who reached the highest number of his career in the play-off match, also played with 19 points and 14 assists.

Mikal Bridges scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 18 points for the Knicks, who last played in the NBA Finals in 1999 and have not won a championship since 1973.

“We don’t really care about who gets flashes, shots, minutes, that kind of thing; we’re focused on winning,” Hart said.

“I think everyone is willing to sacrifice their own personal goals or performance for the improvement of the team. And when you have a group of guys who do that, the sky is the limit.”

Contributing to the Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell 26 points and James Harden with 18 points, the guest team won the series 4-3 after losing 2-0 to the Detroit Pistons in the last round.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve faced challenges,” Mitchell said. “We’ve had two seventh-game appearances, so being 2-0 down isn’t the biggest challenge.

“Right there. So let’s go ahead and take advantage of it.”

Games three and four will be played in Cleveland on Saturday and Monday.

The winners will face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs, who were tied 1-1 in the Western Conference finals.