The New York Knicks are not just beating the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are humiliating them on their own floor.
New York rolled into Cleveland Saturday night and walked out of Game 3 with a 121-108 win that did not feel that close. The Knicks now lead the Eastern Conference Finals 3-0, and they can finish the sweep Monday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.
Jalen Brunson dropped a game-high 30 points and looked every bit like the best closer in the conference. Mikal Bridges, who was the punching bag of the internet two rounds ago, scored 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting. OG Anunoby added 21 and seven boards. The Knicks now have 10 straight wins in this run, the longest active streak in the playoffs.
Cleveland got 24 from Evan Mobley, 23 from Donovan Mitchell, and 19 from James Harden. None of it mattered. The Cavaliers have been the worse team in every minute of this series.
How the Knicks Took Over Cleveland
Tom Thibodeau’s team has not won this series with one elite weapon. They have done it by being deeper, tougher, and smarter than the No. 4 seed in front of them. Bridges is playing the best basketball of his career. Anunoby is the most disruptive wing defender alive right now. Brunson keeps finding the matchup he wants and burning it.
The Cavaliers also have a real problem with their stars in pressure moments. Mitchell has been good, not great. Mobley has been swallowed up at times by the Knicks’ size and physicality. Darius Garland has not provided the secondary creation Cleveland needed.
Knicks Fans Have Taken Over Cleveland
Donovan Mitchell admitted after Game 3 that he could hear Knicks fans loud and clear inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. That is not a great sign for the home team. New York’s fan base travels, and they smell blood.
If the Knicks finish this off Monday, they get a long rest before the Finals start June 3. With the Spurs and Thunder still battling out in the West, that rest could matter.
What This Means for the Cavaliers
Cleveland will face uncomfortable questions all summer if this ends in a sweep. They paid massive money to keep this core together. They added Harden at the deadline to take a leap. They earned a top-four seed. And they look completely outclassed by a Knicks team that traded five first-round picks for Bridges and is now collecting the receipt.
The Cavaliers built this roster to win in May. Right now they cannot win a single game.
Game 4 is Monday night. The Knicks are heavy favorites for a reason.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
