Knicks moved – Jalen Brunson scored 30 points as the New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 in Game 3, moving within one victory of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. The Knicks dominated from tip to buzzer, led wire-to-wire, and have a chance to wra
CLEVELAND — The chants started long before the final seconds of Game 3. Even with the clock winding down, Knicks fans stayed loud, repeating “Knicks in four” as the New York Knicks closed out a 121-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
It wasn’t just a win. It was the kind that brings a franchise to the edge of something it hasn’t touched in 27 years. With the series leaning hard in their favor. the Knicks are now one game away from wrapping up the Eastern Conference Finals and reaching their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
Jalen Brunson led the charge with 30 points. Mikal Bridges added 22, and New York’s offense looked sharp from start to finish. OG Anunoby scored 21 as the Knicks led the entire game, making 55.8 per cent of their shots from the field. They hit 11 3-pointers and went 24 of 27 from the foul line.
Cleveland fought, but the Cavaliers never found the spark needed to flip the momentum. Evan Mobley scored 24 points, Donovan Mitchell finished with 23, and James Harden had 19. Still, the Cavaliers were 12 of 41 from 3-point range and just 12 of 19 from the foul line.
For New York, the distance between control and collapse feels nonexistent right now. All but one of the Knicks’ postseason wins have come by double digits. with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points. They also became the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight games during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics. who used a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title. Cleveland, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers have done it twice.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks put the game fully out of reach. Landry Shamet hit three 3-pointers in a 99-second span. turning a 99-94 moment into a 105-94 swing that New York never let slip. New York’s lead was 91-82 at the end of the third quarter. and once the final frame started clicking. it stayed clicked.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson pointed to New York’s intensity as the difference. saying. “I think their physicality and energy. we couldn’t get to that level to combat it. ” adding. “They’re on a hell of a run. We haven’t been able to stop the momentum. We had one chance in that first game I thought to stop it. but they haven’t been able to halt their momentum.”.
The Knicks’ edge started early. Their first four shots came quickly as they built a 9-1 lead less than two minutes into the game. In the opening quarter, New York was 12 of 17 from the field and up 37-27 after 12 minutes. Cleveland eventually rallied and forced the game back into reach, tying it at 50-all on Harden’s jumper. The response from New York was immediate: a 10-1 run that pushed the Knicks ahead 60-54 at halftime.
Brunson played a major role in the third quarter surge. He scored six points during an 8-1 run midway through the period as the Knicks expanded their lead to 83-70 with 3:41 remaining. From there, the final turning point arrived in the fourth with Shamet’s 3-point barrage.
“We’ve just have to keep our mind on the task at hand. The game is over and we found a way to win. We have to execute at a high level in Game 4,” Karl Anthony-Towns said after finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Shamet described it the way winners do when they’ve already felt the other team’s best punches and survived them. “It’s the next-man-up mentality and the guys found me a few times. We knew we were going to get a real good punch from that team, and we weathered their best punches tonight,” he said.
Even the presence of the superstar couple of Taylor Swift and Cleveland Heights native Travis Kelce at the arena wasn’t enough to change the outcome. The Cavs were left looking at what’s ahead next: a Game 4 where they’ll need to find the level they couldn’t reach in Game 3.
For the Knicks, the message is simpler. After 27 years since their last Finals appearance, they’re now staring at the finish line, with a chance on Monday night to close out the series and send New York back to the NBA’s biggest stage.
Knicks vs Cavaliers Game 3 Jalen Brunson Mikal Bridges OG Anunoby Landry Shamet Donovan Mitchell Evan Mobley James Harden Eastern Conference Finals NBA playoffs