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Latrell Spreewell. Allan Houston. Marcus Camby. Larry Johnson. Charlie Ward. Jeff Van Gundy as coach.
The last time the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals, 27 years ago, those were the legendary names (Patrick Ewing helped get them there, but was out with a torn Achilles).
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Now the names that will go down in Knicks history are Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and others. Mike Brown, who was brought in with a finals-or-bust mandate as coach, has delivered.
The entire team delivered on Monday, as they have for a few weeks and a few series now. Once again, New York ran Cleveland out of its own building, this time in a 126-83 blowout win that saw the Knicks sweep the Cavaliers out of the playoffs and themselves into the Finals.
New York heads to the Finals for the first time since 1999, riding an historic 11-game winning streak, as everything with the Knicks has clicked at the right time. They will get more than a week off to rest and recover as the NBA Finals don’t start until June 3, with Game 1 either in Oklahoma City or San Antonio, depending on who comes out of the Western Conference Finals (that series is tied 2-2 heading into a critical Game 5 on Tuesday night).
Cleveland heads into an offseason with a lot of questions — including whether Donovan Mitchell will sign an extension to stay beyond next season. This team was the top seed in the East a season ago but lost in the second round of the playoffs. Then, this season, traded for James Harden mid-season to improve their chances, made the Eastern Conference Finals but were out-everythinged by the Knicks. It’s going to force a summer of harsh evaluations for the most expensive team in the NBA.
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For a brief few minutes to start Game 4, there was a glimmer of hope for the outnumbered — at least it sounded like it — Cavaliers fans in their home arena. A desperate Cleveland team started the game on an 8-2 run, and midway through the first quarter the Cavaliers still led by one.
Then Game 4 turned into essentially a replay of Game 3. Cleveland missed contested looks while New York hit open ones — or scored…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-headed-nba-finals-first-025958981.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-26 02:59:00
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