The Knicks on the verge of their first NBA Finals of the century
The team led by Jalen Brunson, the game's leading scorer with 30 points, leads the Eastern Conference Finals 3-0, a lead that has never been overcome in NBA history.
Image by Jalen Brunson
With Taylor Swift in attendance, the New York Knicks beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 on Saturday to move to within one win of advancing to their first NBA Finals since 1999.
The team led by Jalen Brunson, the game's leading scorer with 30 points, leads the Eastern Conference finals 3-0, a lead that has never been overcome in NBA history.
To pull off the miracle, the Cavaliers, led by Donovan Mitchell (23 points) and James Harden (19), will have to win four straight games, starting with Game 4 on Monday, again on their home court.
If the odds come true, the Knicks will vie for their first championship ring since 1973 against either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder, who lead the Western Conference Finals 2-1.
The Knicks advance unstoppably to the Finals on a streak of 10 consecutive wins, with a staggering average lead of 22.5 points.
Still, forward OG Anunoby stressed that the series isn't over.
The New York team's unbeaten month is a credit to Mike Brown, the unassuming coach who in his first season has pieced together a talented roster that has gelled.
Dominican-American center Karl-Anthony Towns is the biggest example so far of shining in playmaking, as shown by Saturday's 13-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist performance.
Taylor Swift is no talisman
The Cavaliers were not brought luck even by the front-row presence of pop superstar Taylor Swift and her fiancé, Travis Kelce, born just outside Cleveland.
Amid the commotion over the couple's presence, the longtime NFL Kansas City Chiefs player got up several times from his seat to cheer on fans and to down a beer in one gulp during a timeout, prompting laughter from his celebrity partner.
The 20,000 fans at Rocket Arena pushed their team knowing a loss all but doomed them in their first conference finals since LeBron James' second game in 2018.
But the Knicks gave them no concessions and dominated the scoreboard from start to finish.
The Harden curse
Despite playing with confidence on their home floor, the hosts shot just 21% on three-pointers (4-19) in the first half, making easy work for the Knicks' suffocating defenders.
James Harden, who missed six of his seven three-point attempts, was again a liability on defense and is on the verge of closing another chapter of his misfortunes in the playoffs.
At age 36, "The Beard" reached 190 playoff games, just three shy of the record for players who have not won a championship, held by Karl Malone.
The Knicks, on the other hand, are beginning to see the light after an endless wilderness journey for the passionate fans in the Big Apple, who haven't seen their team lose since it trailed 2-1 in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks.
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