Category: Basketball

CLEVELAND (AP) — New York Knicks sweep Cleveland Cavaliers in Eastern Conference finals, advance to 1st NBA Finals since 1999.

CLEVELAND — Next.

History was made. Redemption was secured.

Next comes the biggest stage in the sport. Next comes the chance to end the drought that matters most.

Next comes the chance for glory.

It felt like the Knicks couldn’t be bothered with this series any longer. The Cavaliers, too, in the opposite manner. And it produced another epic blowout, as the Knicks bludgeoned the Cavs 130-93 on Monday night at Rocket Arena to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

“I truly felt that this team was an NBA Finals team,” coach Mike Brown said. “I thought we had a true opportunity. Some jobs you take, you’re like, ‘OK, we can get better, we have a chance to make the playoffs.’ But this one, I felt we legitimately had a chance.”

Owner James Dolan’s Finals-or-bust mandate has now been fulfilled — in emphatic fashion. The Knicks stormed past the conference finals roadblock that they couldn’t get past last year.

The 21st century had never witnessed or experienced the absolute mania that surrounds a Knicks Finals run. Finally, at long last, it’s arrived.

And it’s provided every reason to believe the Knicks are not close to being finished. Every reason to believe that these surging Knicks can conquer either the Thunder or Spurs — who are tied 2-2 — and win their first championship since 1973.

This tour de force has so far ripped through Atlanta, Philadelphia and Cleveland. There has been minimal resistance on the way. Since midway through the first round, this is now an incredible 11-game winning streak. Only one of those wins was by single digits. There are so many new records set with each passing game that it makes your head spin.

It’s back-to-back overpowering series sweeps. It’s three straight closeout games in which Knicks fans completely took over the opposing arena. It’s a full-circle moment for Brown, who reached the Finals against the team he made his last Finals appearance with — in 2007 — and that fired him twice. It’s the latest — and so far, most meaningful — feat of the Jalen Brunson era as he keeps rising higher and higher on the hierarchy of Knicks legends.

It’s a long-awaited breakthrough for Karl-Anthony Towns, who lost in the conference finals the past two years — with the Timberwolves and Knicks — before finally getting past that hurdle this year. It’s validation for president Leon Rose and all the moves he made, particularly his controversial trade for Mikal Bridges, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career.

It is so, so many things.

“To be part of this team that revives the word ‘hope’ in this city, it’s something special,” Towns said. “It’s something really, really special. And it’s an honor.”

Brown has repeatedly talked about closeout games being the hardest. At this point, that almost feels like satire. They have won their three closeout games by a combined 118 points. They became the first team to ever win three series-clinchers by at least 20 points in one postseason.

They had broken the Cavs’ spirits by Monday, just like they did with the Hawks and 76ers by the end of those series. This game was much more dismissive than dramatic — the Knicks swatted away the Cavs like a gnat.

“We’ve been locked in on the moment,” Brunson said. “And I think we need to continue to do that.”

It would be inaccurate to say the Cavs let go of the rope Monday, because they never truly grabbed hold of it in the first place.

The Knicks used a 20-0 run to build their lead. By midway through the second quarter, that lead had ballooned to 29 points. It became a full Knicks party behind enemy lines. An Eastern Conference coronation in somebody else’s house.

The Cavs cut it to 16 by the start of the third quarter, but the Knicks got it back to 27 points by the start of the fourth quarter. Not even Kenny Atkinson’s analytics could save the Cavs. Brown was able to pull his starters and empty his bench for almost the whole fourth quarter.

The scoring was, once again, perfectly balanced. Towns led the way with 19 (and 14 rebounds), OG Anunoby had 17, Brunson and Bridges had 15 apiece and Josh Hart added six along with 11 rebounds and six assists. Landry Shamet drilled all four 3s he took and provided 16 points off the bench.

The Knicks had a 33-9 advantage in fast-break points, embarrassing the Cavs by beating them down the court over and over again. James Harden had no interest in getting back after misses. He and the Cavs folded like lawn chairs. The Knicks also had a 58-24 edge in bench points.

This was yet another all-around beatdown. They turned the Cavaliers into cadavers.

“I’m sorry for the city of Cleveland for it to be like this in a sweep,” Donovan Mitchell said. “That’s ass.”

That’s the state in which the Knicks left the Cavs.

Next? The Finals.

It’s been a while.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season officially ended at 10:31 P.M. on Monday, but they didn’t show much effort after about 8:30.

The New York Knicks, with nearly as many of their fans in attendance as there were Cavs fans, completed the sweep with a one-sided 130-93 win.

Cleveland started the game strong. Their offense looked much better with the assertion of Max Strus in the starting lineup. They scored on three of their first four possessions, jumping out to an early six-point advantage. Then, the Knicks turned it on and never looked back.

New York took control of the game at the end of the first quarter. They closed the frame on a 13-5 run, then scored the first 12 points of the second quarter. That made it a 24-point Knicks lead. Any hope of extending the series was extinguished with that run.

The remaining 33 minutes of play were just an excuse for the Knicks fans who packed Rocket Arena a chance to celebrate their team’s first trip to the Finals in over a quarter of a century.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in scoring. He put up 31 points on 9-18 shooting. Evan Mobley had 15 points and seven rebounds.

It was a complete team effort for the Knicks.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the starters with 19 points on 8-11 shooting with 14 rebounds. OG Anunoby had 17 points. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges had 15 apiece.

This was the furthest this Mitchell-led Cleveland group has gone in the playoffs, yet this postseason run was mostly unfulfilling.

The Cavs needed seven games — which was at least two too many — to get past a feisty, but inexperienced Toronto Raptors team that is far from a finished product. That was followed up with a seven-game series against a Detroit Pistons team that really couldn’t establish any consistent offense throughout the postseason. Then, they blew a golden opportunity to take Game 1 against New York by squandering a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.

We’ll see where this team goes from here.

This was a turbulent regular season that featured injuries at every point and drastic trades in February to try to get the season back on track. On one hand, it’s impressive that they made it this far. But if this game — and series — were any indication of things, the Cavs have a long way to go if they want to compete for championships. Something needs to change.

It’ll likely be an active summer in Cleveland.

The dream season continues. 

With a Game 4 win over the Cavaliers on Monday night, the Knicks completed a Eastern Conference Finals sweep. 

New York is now headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. 

Mike Brown's squad has been able to do so with one of the most incredible runs in NBA history. 

The Knicks have not lost since going down 2-1 to the Hawks with a Game 3 first-round defeat, rattling off 11 consecutive victories against Atlanta, Philly, and now Cleveland. 

That is the third-longest postseason winning streak in NBA history. 

Brown's team has been clicking on all cylinders from top to bottom, completely dominating their opponents on both ends of the floor on a nightly basis.

They are an incredible +262 during the winning streak, which is the best point differential across 11 games in NBA history, regardless of regular or postseason play. 

The Knicks now await the winner of the Thunder and Spurs Western Conference Finals, which is knotted up at two games apiece heading into Tuesday’s Game 5. 

They'll be looking for the franchise’s third title, and the first since 1973. 

The New York Knicks jumped on the Cleveland Cavaliers early in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals and the "Inside the NBA" crew piled on at halftime.

The Cavaliers, down 3-0 and facing a sweep on their home court at the hands of the Knicks, came out flat and found themselves trailing 68-49 at halftime. During the "Inside the NBA" halftime show on ESPN, the studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith made it clear what they thought of Cleveland's effort.

"Kids at home, you oughta see what the word 'quit' means," Barkley riffed. "To give up. The verb of that is 'Ca-va-liers.'"

Chuck teaches the kids at home what the word 'quit' means 🤣 pic.twitter.com/dLcblwyKxY

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 26, 2026

That was followed by a graphic of a banner for the Cavs' season shown on screen. Rather than celebrating a championship, it simply reads "NBA Playoffs/Taylor Swift came to one of our games."

Inside the NBA at halftime: pic.twitter.com/IWDFGBrPKk

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 26, 2026

The Cavaliers pulled out Game 7 wins against the Toronto Raptors in the first round and the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but since their epic collapse in Game 1, they have been no match for the Knicks so far in this series.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cavs mocked for quitting, given Taylor Swift banner by Inside the NBA

Cleveland cares not for Celebrity Row.

An assortment of the Knicks’ most famous fans traveled to Rocket Arena for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals for an up-close look at a Knicks sweep on Monday.

The Cavaliers didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet, however. Self-proclaimed Knicks “superfan” and rapper Fat Joe told ESPN the team scotched the courtside tickets he bought — with the Cavs telling The Post they were enforcing rules against re-selling first-row seats.

That didn’t keep the star power too far away.

Timothee Chalamet — with girlfriend Kylie Jenner in tow — reprised his usual Madison Square Garden role, and took selfies with fans.

Fat Joe did find his way into the building, as did actor Tracy Morgan. Garden sideline staple Ben Stiller didn’t miss the action, either.

Director Spike Lee made the trip, sharing a moment with Knicks assistant Rick Brunson before tip-off.

And what would a Knicks playoff game be without the alumni? Stephon Marbury hyped up a plane full of Knicks fans en route to Cleveland while John Starks, a guard on the 1999 squad that went to the Finals, watched this team do the same. Franchise icons Patrick Ewing and Walt “Clyde” Frazier were on hand to dole out the MVP trophy to Jalen Brunson.

Not that it was a full-on takeover. A game after Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift showed out — and the Chiefs star chugged a beer —rapper Machine Gun Kelly rooted on the home team wearing a Guardians hat.

Knicks Nation took to the skies on Monday. 

A social media video circulated hours before the Knicks took on the Cavaliers for Game 4, showing former Knicks player Stephon Marbury leading an unidentified flight to Cleveland in a “Go New York, Go New York, Go!” chant. 

“After the game. After the game, not before the game, we go crazy,” Marbury told the flight over the PA system. 

GO NEW YORK GO NEW YORK GO!

WOW. @StarburyMarbury gets an entire plane full of Knicks fans on their way to Cleveland ready to invade Rocket Arena.

The New York takeover is REAL. pic.twitter.com/syfv3QcOCq

— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) May 25, 2026

That’s when the New York native broke into the famous Knicks chant, which passengers on the plane fully took part in. 

In another video on social media, Marbury was seen hosting Knicks trivia for the other passengers and giving away a special edition pair of Knicks-themed glasses to the winner. 

Marbury played five seasons for the Knicks and the team made one postseason appearance in that time.

He averaged 18.2 points per game during his days in the orange and blue and started 282 regular-season games for the organization. 

From the flight that Marbury was on headed to Cleveland, it appears that the Knicks will be well represented during Game 4.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

Knicks fans made their presence known during Game 3 as the Knicks took a 3-0 series lead with their 121-108 victory on Saturday. 

Knicks fans have found cheaper tickets in Cleveland than MSG, allowing them the chance to see their team potentially clinch their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999. 

“It means the world to me as a born and bred New Yorker, living and dying with every shot,” Archer Batravil told The Post after making the trip to Cleveland from Miami for Game 4. “It’s been [27] years since 1999. I’m ready for the revenge game against the Spurs.”

The Knicks entered Monday’s contest having won 10 straight postseason games and having beaten their opponents by an average of 22.5 points.

Knicks sweep Cavaliers and advance to first NBA Finals since 1999 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

For the first time in 27 years, the New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals.

Jalen Brunson and Co. extended their playoff winning streak to 11 games on Monday, completing a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points.

The Knicks pulled their starters with 7:47 remaining and a 35-point lead as their large contingent of fans loudly chanted “Knicks in four!” New York fans easily outnumbered Cleveland fans as die-hard celebrity fans director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Timothée Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, made the trip.

“Our guys played great. You’re in the conference finals and score 65 points off of offensive rebounds and fast break points. I don’t know if I’ve seen that at this point of the year. We wanted to push the pace,” coach Mike Brown said.

Karl Anthony-Towns had 19 points and 14 rebounds, OG Anunoby scored 17 and the New York Knicks routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 Monday night to complete a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference finals and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

The series was uncompetitive after Cleveland blew a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1, with New York rolling to easy victories in Game 2 (109-93) and Game 3 (121-108).

It’s been a long time coming for the Knicks, who were largely uncompetitive throughout their 27 seasons between Finals appearances. From 2001 through 2022, the team missed the playoffs in 16 of 21 seasons and won just eight total postseason games.

Everything changed when the team signed Brunson away from the Dallas Mavericks in 2022. Over the past four seasons, he’s made the All-NBA Second Team three times. Brunson led the Knicks to the second round in his first two seasons before an East Finals loss in 2025 and now an NBA Finals berth.

The Knicks will await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, which is tied 2-2. The NBA Finals will begin on Wednesday, June 3, regardless of when that series ends, and the Western champs will have home-court advantage.

New York lost to San Antonio 4-1 in its last Finals appearance in 1999. The team last won a championship in 1973.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren was among the 15 names listed on an All-NBA Team. He just barely made the cusp, receiving exactly the 15th-most votes at 87.

The lanky challenger at the rim is also coming off an NBA All-Star and All-Defensive First Team appearance for the first time in his career.

He’s on the chase for a second-straight NBA championship against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, tied at two games each. Holmgren became only the fourth Zag to win an NBA title last summer (Los Angeles Lakers’ Adam Morrison in 2009 and 2010, Miami Heat’s Ronny Turiaf in 2012, and San Antonio Spurs’ Austin Daye in 2014).

Through 69 starts for the Thunder, the 7-1 talent averaged 17.1 points on a shooting split of 55.7 percent from the field, 36.2 percent on three-pointers, and 79.2 percent at the charity stripe. His 8.9 rebounds per game rank tied for No. 11 in the NBA, while his 1.9 blocks per game are tied for No. 2. Most importantly, the world’s up-and-coming basketball star listed a defensive rating of 104.1.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder missed Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks on Monday night because of an illness.

Schroder is averaging 3.3 points and 15 minutes in the first three games of the series. The 13-year veteran was acquired from the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 1.

Schroder is averaging 5.5 points during the playoffs. He had 19 points, including three 3-pointers, in Cleveland's 125-120 victory over Toronto on April 29 in a first-round game.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Knicks superfan Fat Joe may have to sit “All The Way Up” in the stands at Rocket Arena after the rapper said the Cavaliers “took the tickets away” he purchased to sit courtside for Game 4. 

Fat Joe appeared on ESPN’s “NBA Today” live in Cleveland when he said, unprompted, that the Cavs took the tickets from him because they didn’t want Knicks fans sitting that close. 

Fat Joe says the Cavs stopped him from buying courtside seats for game 3 & 4 . They told him no Knicks fans allowed via @espnpic.twitter.com/wmvmxeN9ai

— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) May 25, 2026

“We had bought some courtside tickets to the game and once they found out it was superfan Fat Joe, they was like, I can’t sit courtside. New York Knick fans can’t sit courtside,” he said on the program. “They took the tickets away courtside after we purchased it, so shame on you all.” 

In fact, Fat Joe wasn’t the only Knicks fan that semeed to have their tickets revoked.

At least 10 other Knicks fans with courtside seats had been called by a Cavaliers executive and told they no longer had seats, a league source told The Post.

After those fans were informed they no longer had courtside seats, the Cavs did relocate them to a higher section inside the arena for Game 4.

In a post on social media, podcast host and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis claimed that the Cavaliers had “blocked me from buying” seats courtside.

He also said that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert had ticketholders with courtside seats sign a DocuSign that they would not resell their tickets or they “would face a lifetime ban” by the team. 

The Cavaliers did provide their side of the story when reached about the situation with Fat Joe.

“Playoff courtside seating is governed by a specific agreement that prohibits the resale or transfer of tickets without approval,” a Cavaliers spokesperson told The Post. “All courtside ticket holders are required to comply with the terms of the single-game playoff agreement.”

While not courtside, a number of Knicks celeb fans were on hand for Game 4.

Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet posted on social media from Cleveland hours ahead of the game and Fat Joe was seen inside the arena.

Pop icon Taylor Swift and her fiancé, and Cleveland native, Travis Kelce, sat courtside during Game 3.  

Teams have tried to keep Knicks fans out of their arenas during the postseason, with the Sixers notably attempting to prevent visiting supporters from invading the City of Brotherly Love by limiting ticket sales to those who lived in the greater Philadelphia area.

The attempt fell flat as Knicks fans took over Xfinity Mobile Arena during the two games in Philly. 

Those games also included appearances by Lee, Chalamet, Ben Stiller and Tracy Morgan. 

Fat Joe, a Bronx native, has a longstanding history of Knicks fandom and has been at Madison Square Garden plenty during the course of the team’s playoff run this season. 

During his appearance on ESPN, he told the panel the reason he went to Cleveland was “so we can be done tonight.” 

The Knicks are on the verge of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to avoid being swept off their home floor.

Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard!

Go Cavs!

The Knicks return to Rocket Arena tonight, leading the Eastern Conference Finals 3-0 over the exhausted Cavaliers. After building up (and blowing) a 22-point lead in Game One, Cleveland has been overwhelmed by New York’s pace, physicality, and depth of talent. Kenny Atkinson insists that his Cavs are winning analytically, but that’s the irrational talk of a desperate man. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series, and, given New York’s 10-game murder streak, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, et al., are unlikely to be the first.

Tip off is at 8 PM EST on ESPN. This is your game thread. This is Fear the Sword. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Be cool to each other, don’t injure yourselves with those black market confetti cannons, and go Knicks!

In just a short while, the Knicks will begin playing in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, needing just one more win to send the team to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. It has been a postseason to remember, as the Knicks are currently rocking a ten-game winning streak—making them just the tenth team in history to win ten straight games in a single postseason. And not only have they won, but they have largely dominated, as they have an NBA-record +234 point differential across their first thirteen playoff games.

Making the Finals would be a remarkable vindication for so many different individuals. For Leon Rose, who went from being a player agent with CAA to serving as the president for the Knicks and making a series of shrewd moves which positioned the franchise as perennial contenders. For Mike Brown, who has handled several ups and downs in his first season as the team’s head coach only to have them on the brink of history. And perhaps above all else, for Jalen Brunson, who has continuously been the recipient of skepticism over the ability of a small point guard to be the primary option for a legitimate championship contender. While the team is in this position because of the contributions of several players—from the starters to the bench players—Brunson has unquestionably been the face of the franchise since signing with the team in 2022, and leading them to the Finals would further cement his place on the Mount Rushmore of all-time greats in Knicks history.

Making the Finals would not be the end of the road, of course. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are currently locked in a 2-2 tie in the Western Conference Finals, and whichever team comes out on top would face the Knicks for the rights to raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Either squad would be a fearsome opponent, as the Thunder are the reigning champions and the Spurs have the best player on the planet in the form of the 7’4” Victor Wembanyama. The Knicks will likely be seen as underdogs regardless of which team they face off against, and given the team’s lengthy history of disappointment and heartbreak, fans could certainly be forgiven for expecting the other shoe to drop at any moment.

Still, the way they have been playing, it’s tough to count the Knicks out against anybody. Fans have every right to believe that this could finally be the year. And either way, to go from the perennial losers that the Knicks were for most of this century to being just one win away from the Finals is an accomplishment that should not go overlooked. If and when they do finally finish the Cavaliers off and cement their title as Eastern Conference champions, it will be an emotional moment of jubilation—not just for the players and coaches and front office members, but for the entire city of New York.

Just one more win to make it to the final dance. Tune into ESPN at 8:00 to see if they can make it happen. Let’s go Knicks.

…oh, the Mets lost to the Reds today, by the way. Nolan McLean got the absolute crap kicked out of him for the second straight start. He gave up seven runs in just 3.2 innings of work. The bullpen trio of Austin Warren, Jonathan Pintaro, and Tobias Myers combined for 5.1 scoreless innings, but the bats couldn’t get the team back into the game against Nick Lodolo and the rest of the Reds pitching staff. Cleanup hitter Marcus Semien(?) hit a solo homer against Lodolo in the sixth and they also scratched out a run in the seventh and that was about it. The Mets have now lost four straight.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Carson Benge, +5% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nolan McLean, -33% WPA
Mets pitchers: -31% WPA
Mets hitters: -19% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Carson Benge leadoff hit-by-pitch in the first, +3.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: J.J. Bleday solo homer in the third, -9.1% WPA