Seventeen different teams, or more than half of the NBA, have appeared in the NBA Finals this century, a degree of parity unparalleled in the league’s history. Yet one prominent club continued to watch the championship round from home each spring.
That drought effectively ended on Monday.
Following a 130-93 blowout Game 4 victory over Cleveland, New York swept their way through the Eastern Conference Finals to reach the Finals for the first time since 1999. They will now face the winner of a 2-2 Western Conference battle between Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled for June 3rd.
This might be a repeat of the 1999 Finals, when the Knicks lost to San Antonio in five games.
During the playoffs, the Knicks have had one of the most remarkable performances in NBA history, winning 11 consecutive games by an average margin of 23. 8 points.
Monday’s final game to secure the Knicks’ Eastern Conference title saw only five lead changes, with the last coming six minutes into the first quarter when New York took the lead for good, paving the way for a resounding victory. The Knicks made 19 3-pointers to Cleveland’s 11, including Landry Shamet’s perfect 4-for-4 off the bench. Karl-Anthony Towns had a team-high 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Jalen Brunson had 15 points and did not commit a single turnover.
The Knicks’ sweep of the Cavaliers will provide them plenty of time to rest while the Spurs and Thunder battle it out in a back-and-forth Western finals. The Knicks are vying for the team’s third NBA title, and first since 1973.
New York’s journey to the Finals was a gradual one. From 2001-24, the Knicks only won three playoff series. Brunson’s acquisition as a free agent in 2022, which saw him evolve into a celebrity guard, served as the catalyst for their comeback. Last year, they reached the conference finals for the first time since 2000, but fired head coach Tom Thibodeau.
After a month-long coaching search, New York picked Mike Brown. His main goal was to figure out how to make the team’s gifted but sometimes odd roster play better together, particularly the fit of big man Towns.
The Knicks concluded the regular season with a 53-29 record, which was the third-best in the Eastern Conference and the franchise’s most regular-season victories since 2012-13.
Only one month ago, New York’s championship aspirations appeared precarious after losing 2-1 to Atlanta in the playoffs’ first round. New York has not lost since then, capturing 11 straight games to sweep Philadelphia in the second round, followed by Cleveland. That is the third longest winning streak in NBA postseason history.
It wasn’t merely the Knicks’ victory, but the size of their margin. Entering Monday’s Eastern Conference final clincher, they had won their last ten games by a combined 225 points, the largest scoring margin in any ten-game span in NBA history.
