How Knicks’ starting 5 pulled dominant 180 vs. Cavs to get in position for NBA Finals

The New York Knicks kept their postseason winning streak alive in Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks, led by their starters, scored their way to a 109-93 blowout win. New York looks more likely to advance to the NBA Finals than they have this century. And this time it had a whole lot to do with all of the Knicks’ starters.

With their Game 2 win, the Knicks are now 9-0 in the past nine games. Over that span, they boast a +212 point differential, which happens to be the best output from a team over a nine-game stretch ever—in the playoffs or the regular season—according to Sports Illustrated. And last night’s point differential can be credited to the starters.

The Knicks’ starters were responsible for 96 of their 109 points. Josh Hart led all Knicks’ scorers with 26 points. Jalen Brunson chipped in 19 points and 14 assists. Mikal Bridges kept his good times rolling, chipping in 19 points, as well. And they got 19 points for Karl-Anthony Towns and 14 from OG Anunoby. When they all play like that, it becomes incredibly difficult to slow them down as opponents are really just picking their poison—and that’s especially so when Hart is hitting 3-pointers like he did.

The thing is, it’s not always the starters. Sometimes, like in Game 1, it’s a heavy dose of Brunson. Other times, Towns takes over. And sometimes it’s their bench leading them with guys like Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson, and Landry Shamet scoring the ball. Or their defense. The number of options is overwhelming.

But Game 2 was especially impressive because the Cavaliers shot more than twice the number of free throws as the Knicks, 32 to 14. And they won the rebounding battle 42 to with 13 offensive rebounds to the Knicks’ five.

But that just furthers the Knicks’ case. They’re that versatile. They can get wins this deep in the postseason in any number of ways, even when they are beaten on the glass and at the free throw line.

Knicks coach put starters in position to succeed

While the starters deserve most of the credit from Game 2, a lot of credit is also owed to Mike Brown. Brown has directed his team brilliantly. He takes blame even when there’s no blame to be assigned like he did after Game 2 in saying he needs to give Hart more room to be himself. And he pulls levers within the game, like in Game 2 when he substituted Mitchell Robinson in for only a moment to get the Cavaliers in the penalty.

What’s more, Brown deserves credit for his starters’ success. He is perfectly in tune with Brunson, with both understanding when Brunson should look for his shot and when he should look for his teammates. While he may have sat Hart for much of the closing minutes in Game 1, that made room for Shamet. And Shamet delivered with three important 3-pointers.

New York is pretty obviously in the driver’s seat in the conference finals. They are up 2-0 in the series with a +19 point differential through both. That means they are a mere two wins away from the NBA Finals—and just six away from their long-coveted NBA Championship.

But if the Knicks’ starters can keep up the kind of play they exhibited in Game 2, a finals berth is very likely in their future. And who knows what they can do from there.

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