The New York Knicks scored 18 unanswered points on the way to a 109-93 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers as they took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
The score was tied at 53-53 when the Knicks pulled away at their Madison Square Garden home to take a 71-53 lead on the way to a ninth straight victory.
Josh Hart scored 26 points, including five three-pointers, for the home side as he racked up a career-high tally for a play-off game, while team-mate Jalen Brunson added 19 points and 14 assists.
The Knicks, who last reached the NBA Finals match in 1999 and have not been champions since 1973, also had Mikal Bridges scoring 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns 18.
“We don’t really care who gets the shine, the shots, the minutes, those kind of things – we’re focused on winning,” Hart said.
“I think everyone is willing to sacrifice their own personal agendas or performance for the betterment of the team. And when you have a group of guys that do that, sky’s the limit.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points for the Cavaliers and James Harden contributed 18 for the visiting side, who went 2-0 down to the Detroit Pistons in the last round before emerging 4-3 series winners.
“This isn’t our first time facing adversity,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been to two game sevens, so being down 2-0, it’s not the biggest challenge.
“It’s right there. So let’s go ahead and take advantage of it.”
Games three and four will take place in Cleveland on Saturday and Monday.
The winners will play either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs, whose Western Conference final is tied at 1-1.