Knicks make NBA Finals for first time since 1999: New York finishes sweep of Cavs in dominant fashion

For the first time since 1999, the New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals. They swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 130-93 victory in Game 4 on Monday, continuing a remarkable playoff run. After falling down 2-1 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, New York has won 11 straight games. New York's plus-262 point differential is the largest in NBA history in an 11-game span, regular season or playoffs.

The Knicks are the first team in NBA history to win three closeout games by 20-plus points in the same postseason, having closed out the Hawks with a 51-point rout and finished their second-round sweep with a 30-point win against the Philadelphia 76ers. This is the first time in franchise history that they've swept back-to-back series.

Unlike Game 3, this wasn't a wire-to-wire win for New York -- the Cavaliers took a six-point lead early -- but it was a more dominant one. The Knicks went on a 20-0 run in the first half and led by as many as 45 points in the second. When Cleveland cut it to 16 early in the third quarter, they responded with a 12-0 run. Defensively, the Cavs had a modicum of success in the halfcourt by turning to a zone, but they undercut that by repeatedly allowing the Knicks to find easy baskets in transition.

As a team, New York shot 19 for 43 (44.2%) from 3-point range. Reserve guard Landry Shamet, who was phenomenal throughout the series, finished with 16 points (5-6 FG, 4-4 3PT) in 19 minutes. Six Knicks scored in double figures, but no one reached the 20-point mark and Jalen Brunson didn't even play in the fourth quarter. When Cleveland pulled its starters with 8:37 left, New York had a 37-7 edge in bench points and a 32-6 edge in fast break points.

Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 31 points (9-18 FG, 5-9 3PT, 8-10 FT) in the loss. His teammates, however, shot a combined 6 for 34 from 3-point range. James Harden missed all six of his 3-point attempts and finished with 12 points (2-8 FG, 8-9 FT). After acquiring Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers midseason, the Cavs made their first conference finals appearance without LeBron James on the roster since 1992. Losing the series this decisively, though, raises questions about what lies ahead. Harden, 36, has a $42.3 million player option next season. Mitchell, 29, has a $53.8 million player option in 2027-28. Both will be eligible to sign extensions in the offseason.

Exactly one month ago, the Knicks made one big tactical adjustment -- running their offense through Towns -- against the Hawks and completely turned their series around. Everything has come together since then, and the team is flying high heading into the NBA Finals. 

In the Finals, the Knicks will face either the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder, who are tied 2-2 in the Western Conference Finals. When the series begins on June 3, New York will have a three- or five-day rest advantage, depending on whether the WCF ends in six or seven games.

End of third quarter: Knicks 98, Cavaliers 69

Here's a microcosm of this game:

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Knicks have 30 fast break points and the Cavaliers have five of them. In related news, New York is up by 27.

Cleveland is shooting a miserable 8 for 30 (26.7%) from deep, but it can hardly blame shooting variance for this one. The Knicks are running them off their home floor.

Barring a miraculous comeback/disastrous collapse, New York is headed to the NBA Finals.

New York missed seven of its first eight field goal attempts in the second half. It had a couple of turnovers, too. This gave the Cavaliers an opening, but, after the margin dwindled to 16 points, the Knicks responded. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges hit 3s, then OG Anunoby got a dunk on a break, Towns made a layup and Anunoby dunked again on a putback.

All of these buckets have been in transition or semi-transition. Cleveland's zone has disrupted the Knicks' halfcourt offense, but halfcourt issues are irrelevant when you're consistently getting stops and running.

New York is on a 12-0 run and is up 84-56 with 6:11 left in the third quarter.

HALFTIME SCORE: Knicks 68, Cavaliers 49

Well, it doesn't look like Cleveland is going to be the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, New York is up by 19 points heading into the third quarter.

The Cavs started Max Strus in place of Dean Wade. They played some zone. They haven't thrown in the towel, and they went on a 15-3 run late in the second quarter. They're in a really tough spot, though.

Here's the 20-0 run that broke the game open:

Some stats of note:

• Bench points: Knicks 27, Cavs 3
• Fast break points: Knicks 26, Cavs 3
• Biggest lead: Knicks 29, Cavs 6

Let's see if Cleveland can cut into this deficit early in the third quarter. Nineteen points is hardly insurmountable, but the Cavs will have to make some 3s. They're shooting 7 for 21 from deep tonight and have been cold all series.

After a Landry Shamet 3 in transition, the Knicks are up 46-26 with 10:27 left in the second quarter. New York is now on a 32-9 run and it's shooting 8 for 15 from deep. (Deuce McBride also hit a 3 early in the second quarter.)

Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson called a quick timeout. If Cleveland doesn't make a run now, uh-oh. The Knicks closed out their first two series with massive blowouts, and it looks like this could end the same way.

The Cavs started Game 4 pretty well, but then New York took over. Heading into the second quarter, the Knicks are up 38-26.

As has been the case for most of the series, Cleveland has not been able to slow New York down. The Knicks have a 13-3 advantage in fast break points, an 18-6 advantage in points in the paint and they've shot 6 for 12 from 3-point range. (The Cavs are 4 for 14 from deep.)

Here's Mikal Bridges finishing an ambitious alley-oop from Josh Hart in transition by tipping the ball in:

And here are three of Donovan Mitchell's game-high 12 points:

Also worth noting: Matthew Dellavedova is at the game. Here he is wielding a sword:

Halfway through the first quarter, the Cavaliers are up 17-16 and Donovan Mitchell has 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting. He's been extremely aggressive, and he's hit a couple of tough 3s.

Cleveland's other seven points have been scored by Evan Mobley: A nice finish over Karl-Anthony Towns, a putback dunk and a 3 from Mitchell.

One issue for the Cavs, though: New York already has six fast break points. Cleveland's transition D was terrible in Game 3, and it hasn't been great tonight, either.