Knicks sweep – Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 19 points and 14 rebounds as the New York Knicks thrashed the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 on Monday to complete a four-game Eastern Conference finals sweep and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
CLEVELAND — The rout started early, but the message landed in the fourth quarter. With the scoreboard already racing away from the Cavaliers, the Knicks finally pulled their starters with 7:47 remaining and a 35-point lead—leaving New York’s bench to finish the damage in a game that ended 130-93.
Karl Anthony-Towns posted 19 points and 14 rebounds. OG Anunoby scored 17. and New York closed out a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference finals to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. The Knicks did it with Karl-Anthony Towns battling in the paint. Anunoby keeping the pressure on. and a scoring chorus that made Cleveland’s comeback feel impossible long before the final buzzer.
Landry Shamet scored 16 off the bench. Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson added 15 each for the Knicks. who completed the sweep and advanced with one more milestone in their postseason momentum—becoming the fourth team to have an 11-game winning streak during their playoff run. The last club to do it was Golden State. which rode a 15-game stretch on the way to its second title in three seasons in 2017.
By the time New York took over fully, it was no longer just a basketball game—it was a takeover. A large contingent of fans packed Cleveland and loudly chanted “Knicks in four!” New York fans outnumbered the Cavaliers faithful. with celebrity visitors making the trip part of the night’s electricity. Director Spike Lee. comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend. Kylie Jenner. were among those spotted in the crowd.
Now, the Finals are next—definitely, and with stakes that feel familiar in different ways. New York will face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs. The Western Conference finals is tied 2-2, and Game 5 will be played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Whichever team emerges will enter the Finals with home-court advantage when they begin on June 3. thanks to a better regular-season record.
For the Knicks, this is their third Finals appearance since winning their last title in 1973. They lost in seven games to Houston in 1994 and in five to San Antonio in 1999. This run has carried a rare kind of immediacy too: it is the 15th time since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 that a coach reached the Finals in his first year with a team.
New York made a major coaching move after last year’s Eastern Conference finals trip. The Knicks hired Mike Brown after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau following a run that ended with a six-game loss to Indiana. Brown now has his second trip to the Finals as a coach; his previous appearance came with Cleveland in 2007.
On the other side. Cleveland’s stars tried to fight the tide. but the game never granted the Cavaliers enough room to reset. Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points for Cleveland. He started hot too—scoring the Cavaliers’ first eight points as Cleveland opened with an 8-2 lead. The Cavaliers led for most of the first six minutes before New York seized control.
Evan Mobley’s putback dunk gave Cleveland a 17-14 advantage, and the Knicks answered by going on a stretch that flipped the scoreboard. They scored nine straight points, then watched Mitchell pull Cleveland closer with a floater that got them within 30-26 with 2:12 left in the first quarter.
That was the last time Cleveland looked like it might make the night competitive. New York went on a 20-0 run over a five-minute span during that opening period. The Knicks shot 8 of 14 from the field in the first quarter, including four 3-pointers. Their bench chipped in 15 points, with a pair of 3-pointers from Shamet. Shamet’s series line carried extra weight too: he was 11 of 12 from beyond the arc during the matchup.
When Cleveland went quiet, it went completely quiet. The Cavaliers were 0 for 9 from the field during their drought, including missing all three attempts from beyond the arc. They also committed four turnovers.
New York’s lead continued to grow until it became the story. The Knicks were up by as many as 29 in the first half and held a 68-49 advantage at halftime. It marked the fourth time this postseason the Knicks were up by at least 19 after 24 minutes. and the margin felt even more deliberate when the Knicks already had four players in double figures in the first half. Towns added a double-double early with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland never found a foothold to slow the pace. New York’s largest lead climbed to 45 points in the fourth quarter, turning the final stretch into a formality as the crowd kept cheering and the sweep turned into a certainty.
The final result ended Cleveland’s postseason in harsh fashion: the Cavaliers were swept in a postseason series for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals against Golden State. It is a reminder that even with Mitchell scoring 31, the margin of error in a four-game series doesn’t forgive.
For the Knicks, the sound in the arena was steady from start to finish. When the starters came out with 7:47 left and the game already out of reach. it looked less like a contest ending and more like a chapter closing—one that now opens on the June 3 Finals. where New York will try to turn this sweep into something lasting.
Knicks Cavaliers Karl Anthony-Towns OG Anunoby Mikal Bridges Jalen Brunson Donovan Mitchell Mike Brown NBA Finals Eastern Conference finals sweep Oklahoma City Thunder San Antonio Spurs