Knicks overwhelm Cavaliers again to take 3-0 series lead

CLEVELAND -- Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Mikal Bridges added 22 and the New York Knicks moved within one game of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 with a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

OG Anunoby had 21 points as New York led the entire game. The Knicks were 43-of-77 from the field, including 11-of-28 on 3-pointers. They were also 24-of-27 from the foul line.

The Knicks can wrap up the Eastern Conference finals and sweep their second straight series with a win Monday night. New York is the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics, who also went on a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title.

All but one of the Knicks' wins have been by double digits. Their point differential of plus-225 over the past 10 games is also the largest in a 10-game span in NBA history -- including the regular season and the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.

Despite how New York has made it look, head coach Mike Brown assured reporters after the game that this run has been anything but easy.

"This is hard. We're playing good teams," he said. "I've said this before. We're playing a team right now that has four NBA All-Stars and two of the best shooters in the league on top of those four NBA All-Stars, and they have a fantastic coach in Kenny Atkinson. There's nothing easy about this."

Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, and James Harden added 21 for Cleveland. The Cavaliers were 12-of-41 on 3-pointers and 12-of-19 from the foul line.

New York led 91-82 at the end of the third quarter, but put it out of reach in the fourth when Landry Shamet made three 3-pointers in 99 seconds to make it 105-94.

Shamet shrugged off the significance of those shots, pointing to all the other things the Knicks have excelled at this postseason.

"I'mthinking about guarding an All-Star on the other end," he said. "My assignment defensively or whatwe'redoing defensively, I thinkthat'sthe beauty of our team. We got five guys on the court who are constantly bought into that.It'sa next-play mentality.The ball found me a few times and went in. We moved on and made plays defensively that ultimately closed the game out."

The Knicks made their first four shots en route to a 9-1 lead less than two minutes into the game. New York was 12-of-17 from the field in the quarter and was up 37-27 after 12 minutes.

Cleveland rallied and tied it at 50-all on a jumper by Harden before the Knicks countered with a 10-1 run. They went into halftime with a 60-54 advantage.

Brunson had six of his 12 points during an 8-1 run midway through the third quarter as the Knicks extended their lead to 83-70 with 3:41 remaining.

Game 4, and a chance for the Knicks to make their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, is on Monday.

"You don't look ahead," Brunson said. "Most importantly, you just deal with what's in front of you. So, we had the first session at the first quarter, and the first half, and then you go on and go on. We 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 everyone's holding each other accountable.

"That's just the most important thing right now."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.br/]