The New York Knicks are one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
New York defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, pushing the Knicks to a 3-0 series lead. Game 4 is Monday night, also in Cleveland.
The win extended New York's winning streak to 10 games. No team in NBA history has lost a series after leading 3-0, a fact the Knicks are not dwelling on. Jalen Brunson said after the game that the focus stays narrow, possession by possession.
"So you have the first possession, the first quarter, and then you have the end of the first half and you go on," Brunson said. "You just continue to just deal with what's in front of you and just have your teammates' back. Make sure everyone's on the same page, making sure that everyone's holding each other accountable. That's just the most important thing right now."
Brunson is averaging 29 points in the series and 27.8 for the entire postseason. Karl-Anthony Towns is putting up a double-double, averaging 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds along with 6.1 assists. OG Anunoby, who missed the final two games of the Philadelphia series with a strained right hamstring, returned Saturday and finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. He is averaging 19.8 points in eight games during the winning streak, second on the team during that span.
The Knicks first seized momentum in Game 1, rallying from 22 points down in the fourth quarter to win 115-104. Towns said that desperation cannot fade heading into Monday.
"We've got to come out with that same desperation as Game 1. What got us here as a team, we've won all these games in a row as a team, we've had this winning streak as a team. As long as we stay together, we stay unified, we always have felt that the sky's the limit for us," he said.
Courtside Saturday night, according to ABC News, were Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. The engaged couple sat front row, and Kelce, who grew up in Northeast Ohio, was shown on the jumbotron drinking a beer to the crowd's delight. Swift laughed and covered her face as fans cheered. The Knicks won anyway.
Brunson described the roster's collective mindset as something that runs deeper than game-to-game adjustments. "We have a bunch of individuals in that we locker room who work really hard and they're very psychotic about their work and the things they do, and making sure that they're ready physically and mentally so when their number's called and then when there's time to go out there, they're ready," he said. "We have a lot of real professionals on our roster."
Cleveland will be playing its 14th game since early April when it takes the floor Monday. The Cavaliers have not won since Game 3 opened.
