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James Harden remains the face of postseason failure, shooting under 36 percent from the field (under 27 percent on 3-pointers) with more turnovers (six) than assists (five) through the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals. Donovan Mitchell remains the face of a franchise that repeatedly fails to reach its potential, responding to Cleveland’s Game 1 collapse — in …

The Golden State Warriors are moving in the right direction this offseason. They swiftly addressed questions looming about the future of head coach Steve Kerr and whether he’d call it quits. Kerr re-signed with the Warriors on a multi-year deal that will keep him as the highest paid coach. That was step one. Check. Advertisement Step two was finding their …

A few notes on Josh Hart after the Knicks’ win over Cleveland: Mike Brown had high praise for Hart after Hart poured on a team-high 26 points in the Knicks’ Game 2 win on Thursday. The coach compared Hart to a future Hall of Famer whom he’d coached in San Francisco. Advertisement “They’re different players, but they’re similar players because …

Games can be won and lost in short spurts. The Cleveland Cavaliers found that out the hard way once again as they dropped Game 2 109-93 to the New York Knicks. After blowing a 22-point lead in an eight-minute meltdown in Game 1, it was 18 unanswered points in the middle of the third quarter that cost them Game 2. …

In 1987, Detroit was building what would soon become a championship team. With a backcourt of Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn, second-year player Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, and John Salley, the core was set. And they had Boston in a nice spot in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals. Advertisement The Pistons had crushed the Celtics in …

At the moment, one must search for areas of concern for the Knicks. But there is one glaring issue. Mitchell Robinson, who went 0-for-4 from the free-throw line, was again neutered by Hack-a-Mitch during the Knicks’ 109-93 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Advertisement Across the first two games …

Even with injuries to key players, the San Antonio Spurs have to feel good about themselves coming into tonight’s Game 3. They were able to steal Game 1 from the defending champs, a double OT classic that saw the Spurs eventually out-execute the Thunder down the stretch, and were tantalizingly close to coming back home to the Frost Bank Center …

The Knicks didn’t need an epic fourth-quarter comeback in this one, this time handling the Cleveland Cavaliers easily in a 109-93 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Here are the takeaways… — In a game where Jalen Brunson finished with 19 points but had just two points in the first half, New York leaned on its supporting …

On Tuesday, Karl-Anthony Towns dismissed his quiet offensive night. All that mattered, he said then, was the Knicks prevailed. “It’s not about the individual performances, it’s about this team finding a way to put up a win on the board,” Towns said. “I think that’s what’s special.” Advertisement Two nights later, he regained his form. Though it wasn’t Towns the …

We knew it before the series started, and tonight we saw the proof again: the Cavaliers just can’t match the offensive depth of New York. While Cleveland relied on Donovan Mitchell (26 PTS), the husk of James Harden, and their two big men, all five Knicks starters logged double-digit points. Late into the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson had recorded just …

Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 109-93 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden:   Hero The Cavaliers dared Josh Hart to beat them, and he obliged. After getting benched at the end of Game 1, and starting cold in Game 2, the gritty Hart found his shot. Advertisement He made five 3-pointers and …

Three weeks ago, at the end of a discussion of her first 100 days as governor of New Jersey at Newark’s Performing Arts Center, Mikie Sherill faced a series of rapid-fire questions from NJ.com political editor Brent Johnson. The subjects ranged from personal issues to state policy. But then a little more than an hour into the video, she faced …

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 …

The NBA Draft is getting closer, and the mixed signals are flying right and left, and it’s hard to know for sure what the Utah Jazz might do at #2. Everything obviously depends on what the Washington Wizards do at #1. The odds makers at FanDuel have the Wizards at -320 to take AJ Dybantsa with the first pick, +280 …

New York Knicks (53-29, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30, fourth in the Eastern Conference) Cleveland; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT LINE: Cavaliers -2.5; over/under is 213.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Knicks lead series 2-0 Advertisement BOTTOM LINE: The New York Knicks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals with a 2-0 lead in the series. The …

NEW YORK — Josh Hart called his shot. And then, he made it. And then, he made another. And another. And another. And another. After struggling with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ defensive cross-matching in Game 1 — a game plan predicated on putting a center on him, sagging off him, and all but daring him to knock down shots in favor …

For two games, this series has been everything. Two high-level, high-skill, deep, elite teams, both brilliantly coached, playing with urgency on every possession because they understand if they don’t, it will be the end of their season. Advertisement While the scene shifts to San Antonio for Game 3, nothing else is going to change — these two teams recognize in …

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks are now two victories away from reaching their first NBA Finals in 27 years. The Knicks handled the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, May 21 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, 109-93, and they unlocked a different way to win: it was role players who carried the day. Advertisement All five New York …

Looking at the box score of the Knicks’ Game 1 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, it would appear Josh Hart had a bad game. Not only did he shoot below 50 percent from the field and 20 percent from downtown, Hart had two turnovers, played just 31 minutes of a game that went to OT, and had a …

After the monster game Jalen Brunson had in the Knicks’ improbable comeback win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers knew they had to change their game plan. Instead of letting Brunson do his thing and shutting down the other scorers, Cleveland focused their energy and defense on stopping the Knicks captain. That, however, also didn’t work …

NEW YORK — The Cleveland Cavaliers have a Jalen Brunson problem. As well as a James Harden problem. Plus a shooting problem. And a bench problem. Problems like those, no matter how much coaches can sugarcoat it, can’t exactly be solved overnight, and Cleveland heads home to the shores of Lake Erie down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, and …

New York didn’t save its heroics for the final minutes of the game on Thursday — it got its work out of the way in the third. The Knicks took charge of the game — and the Eastern Conference Finals — with an 18-0 run in the third quarter, where Cleveland went scoreless for 5:30 of game time. Meanwhile, Josh …

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 2 to the New York Knicks 109-93. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 26 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover Mitchell doesn’t look right. Or left, when he has the ball. He only looks up towards the rim. Advertisement Jokes aside, Mitchell genuinely doesn’t look …

Remember that moment nearly a month ago when the New York Knicks were down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA playoffs? When Mikal Bridges couldn’t make a shot, when Jalen Brunson was going to tank the draft stock of every small guard from here to eternity, when Mike Brown’s rotations were taking years off …

The Cleveland Cavaliers chose to give up an inexplicably large run earlier in Game 2 than they did on Tuesday. An 18-0 run in the third quarter allowed the New York Knicks to turn a tie into an 18-point advantage. They cruised to an easy 109-93 victory to take a 2-0 series lead. Donovan Mitchell’s lack of mobility is the …