Category: Sports News

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 as Brunson dished a playoff career-high 14 assists in the Knicks' 109-93 Game 2 victory on Thursday night. 

"That’s what great players do. They read the game and the game dictated that," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. "Obviously, we were loaded up more toward him and he found other guys. We gotta find that balance. But 14 assists, credit to him. [We] took away some of the scoring options, blitzed him, gave him different looks. He made the right reads, right plays."

"As an MVP candidate, Jalen Brunson's job is to make the game easier for his teammates," Mike Brown said. "That's what he did."

Brunson scored two points on just 1 of 3 shooting in the first quarter, deferring to Karl-Anthony Towns (seven points) in the opening frame. The second quarter was more of the same, dishing three assists as Josh Hart and OG Anunoby scored a combined 15 points while Brunson went scoreless in the quarter on 0-for-3 shooting.

While Brunson's scoring increased in the second half (17 points on 6 of 10 shooting), he made nine assists in the third and fourth quarters.

"They were presenting two to the ball and I was able to find my teammates and they were knocking shots down," Brunson said after the game. "Just trying to create an advantage by putting two on the ball and trusting them and having them make the play."

And Brunson's teammates rewarded that trust. Hart went for a team-high, and playoff career-high, 26 points, while Towns (18), Anunoby (14) and Mikal Bridges (19) all scored in double-figures to help give the Knicks a 2-0 series lead. 

"He had a huge offensive game the last game, so we knew they would come in with a different game plan," Hart said of Brunson's game. "That shows the confidence he has in us and the depth of team we have… We can win a game with him scoring 10, 12 points but having 14 assists, getting guys involved. Shows the character of the team, character of him. Shows we can win games in different ways."

"Just shows that he plays the right way. If you’re not going to send the double team, it’s an advantage for him. If you send the double team, he will read and react and find the open guy," Bridges said. "He plays the right way. Ever since I known him, he plays the right way… If you’re going to keep helping off, he’s going to make you pay and that’s what makes him great."

Game 2 gave another example of how this Knicks team has been able to adapt to any team and any scenario. It feels like forever ago that the Knicks were down 2-1 in their first-round series with the Hawks before the team started running the offense through Towns. That continued during the four-game sweep of the 76ers, and after that strategy didn't work on Cleveland in Game 1, Brunson took over to steal the victory.

And now, Brunson was the facilitator.

"It’s an advantage for us. Learning how to play differently," Brunson said of the Knicks' ability to be versatile. "There will be times where one game plan will be different from the next. Being able to adjust and adjust on the fly is something we need to continue to get better at. We just have to continue to be open to figure out how we can win the next game."

What will the Knicks do in Game 3? Whatever it is, the Cavaliers will have their hands full trying to prepare for multiple looks from Brunson and the Knicks.

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 they are two more dreadful performances from enjoying the early vacation spot south of the border reserved for teams that don’t meet their season’s goals.

Thursday night’s performance at Madison Square Garden, a 109-93 loss, was much more than a Game 1 hangover. With the rabid crowd screaming “Knicks in 4” as the fourth-quarter seconds wound down, New York is just two victories away from its first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, when they lost in five games to the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks' most recent championship banner is from 1973, and breaking that five-decade drought is more realistic than ever, barring a total collapse in the next week.

New York has now won nine straight playoff games. When the Boston Celtics won the 2024 title, they won 10 consecutive postseason games.

Send in your questions now for this week’s episode of The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast to discuss everything Pistons. Submit your question to the comments section here or on X/Twitter to @TheRealWesD3 and/or @blakesilverman.

Join us live on Sunday morning for the show where we’ll recap the Pistons’ series with the Cavaliers and look back at the season as a whole. What needed to change for the Pistons to win Game 7? How different are you expecting the team to look next season? Who is locked down as a part of the core for the long haul?

Plus, The Pindown has a phone line where you can leave a message and hear your voice on the show. Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message around 45 seconds or less so we can fit everyone into the show.

The podcast will be uploaded to all audio platforms the following morning.

The Pindown: A Detroit Pistons Podcast Vitals:

When: Sunday May 24 at 10:30 a.m. ET

Where: Detroit Bad Boys YouTube Channel

How to submit questions:

• Detroit Bad Boys Website: Comment section of the weekly Pindown episode articles.
• Call (313) 355-2717 and leave us a voicemail with your question. Please try to keep the message to 45 seconds or less.
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As always, leave any questions or topics you want to be discussed in the comment section below.

Kylie Jenner decided to take in the Knicks’ Game 2 109-93 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night in a bit of a different way than her superfan beau, Timothée Chalamet. 

While the “Marty Supreme” star was courtside at Madison Square Garden, Jenner watched from the comfort of home with some chips, a bottle of wine and caviar. 

“GAME NIGHT!” Jenner wrote in an Instagram Story showing off the way she was watching Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Knicks and Cavaliers. 

While Jenner, a California native, has not joined Chalamet at MSG for this round, she has made plenty of appearances at The World’s Most Famous Arena with her Knicks-fan boyfriend at various times during the postseason. 

She had sat courtside with Chalamet during Game 5 of the first-round series against the Hawks and was back at MSG for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the 76ers — both victories.

While Jenner hadn’t made her way to 4 Pennsylvania Plaza yet this round, she made headlines after Game 1, responding to a TikTok post by Page Six showing Chalamet walking out to his courtside seat. 

“daddy,” Jenner commented on the post. 

Chalamet joined a slew of celebrities at Madison Square Garden for Game 2, though the “Dune” star seemed to receive one of the loudest cheers from the crowd when he was shown on the video board. 

Timothée Chalamet gets a loud ovation from Knicks fans. pic.twitter.com/Ul6Vjlffgi

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 22, 2026

Fellow superfans Ben Stiller, Spike Lee and Tracy Morgan were also in attendance for the game. 

Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman and Chris Rock were spotted courtside as well. 

Chalamet made sure to share some of his experience from Game 2 on his Instagram Story, including the view from his seat, a video of a bucket from Jalen Brunson and the stat line shown on the MSG video board. 

Jenner and Chalamet have been dating since 2023.

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 an odd inquiry about the Brooklyn nee New Jersey Nets, long gone from Newark’s Prudential Center and before that the Byrne/Continental/IZOD Center.

Would she be interested in bringing the Nets back from Brooklyn where the team moved in 2012 after 35 years in N.J.? Yes, indeed, she told Johnson.

“I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days.

“But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”

For some New Jersey fans, that would be a dream come true. No more commuting across two rivers! New York Knicks fans would like it too, having been tweeting for years that the city is too big for two teams.

To say that’s realistic, however, is wrong. The Nets are comfortably ensconced in the borough, about to play their 14th season at Barclays Center, the billion dollar arena that is now in the third year of a five-year, $140 million renovation. So has the governor and the Nets been in touch? Nope, according to the Nets.

“There have been no conversations with ownership or leadership and the governor or her administration and we have no plans to bring the Brooklyn Nets back to New Jersey,” a league insider told ND in what amounts to a blanket denial.

Why did the governor who’s still celebrating her political honeymoon make a commitment about what is decidedly not a big issue other than for a small minority of basketball fans? No idea, said the insider, calling the comments “very odd … “They’re perfectly happy in Brooklyn.”

What about the Long Island Nets, not so comfortably ensconced in Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum? Nope, no talks about them relocating either.

• Mikie Sherrill wants Nets back in New Jersey, but team ‘perfectly happy in Brooklyn’ – Brian Lewis – New York Post

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.

Jokes aside, Mitchell genuinely doesn’t look right physically. He’s as limited as I’ve ever seen him, hardly getting any burst or upward lift on his drives. That’s made it near impossible for him to get to his spots against a rangy Knicks defense.

Outside of that, decision-making remains a blemish. Mitchell ended the night with only 1 assist, something that just isn’t good enough at this stage of the game.

Grade: D–

James Harden

18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers

Harden is unplayable defensively. The Knicks can get anything they want when he’s out there. I wrote more about that here.

This is something Harden has somewhat made up for with his offense in years past. But that’s fallen apart in this series. He only had 2 assists tonight as the Knicks made an effort to take away the paint and force Harden to create plays. He couldn’t.

Grade: F

Evan Mobley

14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks

Mobley had 10 points in the first quarter. He scored 4 points the rest of the way and only attempted 8 shots on the night.

Everyone deserves blame.

We can acknowledge that New York made it a point of emphasis to take Mobley away from the ball. They clogged passing lanes and did everything they could to avoid letting him catch it on the roll. That puts a limit on what Mobley can do.

However, it’s an indictment on everyone that Mobley wasn’t involved in other ways. Inverted screens, operating at the elbow. Literally anything. This type of stuff can’t happen, yet it continues to plague them.

Grade: B-

Jarrett Allen

13 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Similar to Game 1, Allen was holding his end of the deal by winning the physicality battle and eating on the offensive glass.

The Cavs won the offensive rebounding battle 13-5. Allen had as many offensive boards as the Knicks. It didn’t matter.

Cleveland hasn’t been able to feed Allen consistently. He’s been spaced out, hiding in the dunker’s spot while his guards dribble, dribble, and dribble the game away.

Grade: B–

Dean Wade

3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

Wade looks more ready to shoot than he did at any point in the Raptors or Pistons series. That didn’t help them much tonight as he went 1-3 from downtown. But it’s better than pumpfaking air and stopping the entire offense.

Grade: C-

Max Strus

5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

Strus hasn’t had his moment in this series. He struggled to score in Game 1 and shot just 1-7 from the floor tonight (1-4 from deep). I expect him to find his range at some point, but for now, the Cavs are sorely missing his shooting.

Grade: D+

Dennis Schroder

4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists

Schroder and Jaylon Tyson were the only Cavaliers to play 10+ minutes and avoid a negative plus/minus. They both ended as zeros.

I think Schroder helps the Cavs in spots where the backcourt is struggling to make reads. But that’s a problem in and of itself.

Grade: D+

Sam Merrill

4 points

This was a brutal game for Merrill. He went 0-7 from deep, and it wasn’t like he was taking difficult shots. Most of them were clean looks.

Grade: F

Jaylon Tyson

4 points, 3 rebounds

Tyson got his first chance in this series and didn’t do much with it. He had a brief moment in the second half, where his hustle and off-ball activity provided a boost. But that moment was fleeting.

There’s room for Tyson to assert himself in this series if he can take advantage of his minutes. Going 0-3 from the corner isn’t going to cut it.

Grade: D+

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.

He made five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 26 points, along with seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Zero

At halftime, Evan Mobley was on his way to a monster game, tallying 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

Then he vanished, going scoreless over the final 24 minutes as the Knicks ran away and hid from his Cavaliers.

Somehow, Mobley didn’t take a single shot over the final two quarters. He was getting in plenty of cardio.

Unsung hero

Jalen Brunson doesn’t have to pile up points to make a difference.

The Cavaliers took away the Knicks’ top offensive weapon, so he served the role of playmaker to a tee, dishing out a career playoff-high 14 assists. Brunson also scored 19 points.

Key stats

221 — The Knicks’ positive point differential, the highest of any team through the first 12 games of a postseason.

Quote

“He’s the perfect example for any basketball player who wants to learn how to truly impact the winning of a team, and he does that at the highest level.”

– Karl Anthony Towns on Josh Hart.

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 11 points, but it didn’t matter. The captain finished with 19 points and 14 dimes, while his roomie was busy bossing around the Cavs and taking his turn in the spotlight. Playing incredibly well at both ends, Josh Hart set a new personal postseason best with 26 points (10-21 FG, 5-11 3PT), plus seven assists, four boards, and two steals.

Not to be outdone, Karl-Anthony Towns logged his eighth double-double of these playoffs (18 points, 13 boards), and their diabolically defending wings combined for 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Although the visitors held a six-point lead at times in the first half, everything post-intermission belonged to the hosts. When the final buzzer buzzed, New York had won 109-93 and secured a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The game started off alright. All in the first minute, Jalen Brunson swished a floater, Mikal Bridges stole an inbounds pass, and Karl-Anthony Towns sank a three. The Garden ruptured eardrums with their vociferous vocalizations.

Cleveland responded, however. They capitalized on Knicks’ misses and miscues while also getting Evan Mobley cooking early. Their skipper, Kenny Atkinson, gave the frontcourt some notes after New York schooled his bigs on Tuesday. Early tonight, they outrebounded the Knicks, and Evan Mobley led the Cavs with 10 first-quarter points.

Meanwhile, New York’s long-range shooting was frosty again. They missed five of their first six attempts while the guests converted three-quarters of theirs. New York’s ball movement was good, but Cleveland’s defense kept up. Luckily for us, OG Anunoby exists. His defense was equal to—if not better than—his opponents’, and his steal from Dean Wade became two easy points midway through Q1.

Rest assured, the hamstring seems fine. OG sprinted up the court like a gazelle.

New York’s bench provided a lift, with Landry Shamet stealing from Sam Merrill and Deuce McBride hitting a triple—his first points of the series. Donovan Mitchell waited until the final seconds to make his first bucket, a three that gave Cleveland a 27-24 advantage at the buzzer.

In the second quarter, Jose Alvarado joined the fray to give Brunson a blow. With Cap resting, Towns carried the Knicks offensively early in the quarter. He knocked down a three and scored inside. Bridges continued to make life hell for James Harden, and when The Beard managed to fight his way to the cup, there was Mitchell Robinson to stuff him back.

At the other end, Bridges was a menace, too, making nearly all his shots to reach double digits early.

Cleveland ratcheted up its defense. Mobley blocked Towns at the rim, Mitchell swatted away a McBride three-point attempt, and Dennis Schröder finished a driving layup during a Cavaliers run.

Neither team surrendered much ground. At the midway point, coach Mike Brown went with four starters and Robinson at center. Cleveland went ahead, and New York tied the score; the Cavs inched forward, then New York leapfrogged them. Hart finally converted from the outfield to secure a five-point lead. When Harden hit from deep, the score was knotted yet again.

The Cavaliers guarded Brunson well, limiting him to just two points on six field-goal attempts in his first 19 minutes. The Knicks have so many riches, though. With JB stymied, Hart scored eight points in the quarter to give the good guys a 53-49 halftime lead.

Through the first half, Cleveland missed six more shots than our heroes yet stayed competitive by outrebounding them by seven and hauling in eight offensive boards to New York’s zero. The Knicks shot fine from the field (56%), but missing 8 of 11 from deep prevented them from blowing the lid off this sucker. Each team protected the ball, committing just three turnovers apiece despite the dogged defense. Mobley led all scorers with 14 points, while KAT was a close second with 13.

Jarrett Allen and Spida scored four points to kick off the second half. Then the ‘Nova kids tore off on an 18-0 run, with nine points from Hart, seven points from Brunson, and two from Bridges. An apoplectic Atkinson nearly snapped his hair like twigs while his club went dry for five-and-a-half minutes and fell behind by almost 20.

Spida contributed a few buckets but received little support from his cohort. With Harden on the bench, picking lint out of his facial hair, you have to wonder if maybe Donovan misses Darius Garland from time to time.

Not only were the Knicks scorching the nets from every distance, but they protected the ball. In the quarter, they committed no turnovers but forced four, outscored the guests 32-18, and closed the frame with an 85-70 lead.

To start the fourth, New York missed seven shots and committed four fouls, allowing Mitchell, Merrill, and Jaylon Tyson to cut the gap to seven points.

When Jordan Clarkson committed a loose-ball foul on Tyson, New York was in the penalty with nine minutes still to play.

The teams traded buckets, and Brown needed a timeout. The Cavs couldn’t muster the stuff to mount a comeback like New York did on Tuesday. With Harden and Schröder whiffing, Bridges and Anunoby combined for eight points to push the lead to 13 with six minutes left.

Mitchell was huffing and puffing; Allen, Harden, and Strus bricked again; and in a flash, the differential was 19 with under three minutes left. Towns fouled Harden on a drive that resulted in an and-one. That gave us a moment’s pause. But Cleveland was beat in so many ways. Bridges scored, Spida missed, and Brunson hit a six-foot dagger to restore the 18-point advantage with 1:30 left. From there, both coaches sent in the subs to mop it up, and a beautiful night of basketball drew to its conclusion.

Up Next

Professor Miranda has a recap for your ear, and this series is headed to Ohio. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score

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.” 

Two nights later, he regained his form. 

Though it wasn’t Towns the distributor, as it has been since the Knicks made a tweak to their offense during the opening-round series against the Hawks, he was pretty effective nonetheless. 

With the Cavaliers looking to take away Jalen Brunson, others emerged in the orange and blue’s one-sided 109-93 Game 2 beatdown at the Garden. 

Towns was terrific, notching 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 13 rebounds and a plus-18 rating in 36 strong minutes.

He hit three 3-pointers, equaling his most in these playoffs. 

It was a very different Towns from the series opener, when he was limited to 13 points on 6-for-14 shooting along with seven turnovers. He was aggressive, made quick decisions and scored in a variety of ways — from beyond the arc and in the interior.

At times, he overpowered Cavaliers big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. On other occasions, he shot over them. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

The performance continued Towns’ strong postseason. It has also shown his ability to adjust, from scorer to distributor back to scorer again. 

“Just seeing where the game goes,” said Towns, who also had a major role in holding Mobley scoreless after halftime. “Last game, I felt was a game for us to kind of download a lot of information. Today, I just wanted to be aggressive — like I always say, playmaking, getting looks at the basket. It wasn’t even about scoring, it was about putting pressure on the defense, and I just found myself in good positions.”

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 cast heavily early on, who got the job done. 

First, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who had seven points in the first quarter by bullying his way to the rim and finding his stroke early from long range. Mikal Bridges also chipped in with six in the opening quarter with excellent shot selection. 

Off the bench, Miles McBride added some energy and shot-making ability, hitting a three with 2:09 left in the first quarter to put New York ahead by two. It was the last basket the Knicks would make until the second quarter as the Cavaliers re-took the lead thanks to a 5-0 run to end the first quarter.

-- McBride kept it going to kick off the second with a two-pointer before Towns tied things up with a deep three. It was a bit of a slog for New York after that until Bridges ended a nearly three-minute stretch without a made field goal with a nice pull-up jumper.

OG Anunoby and Josh Hart started to get involved from there and ended the half by combining for the Knicks' final 15 points, including back-to-back threes.

Meanwhile, what Brunson lacked in scoring in the first half, he made up for with his passing by totaling five assists at halftime. In fact, New York as a team did a great job of passing the ball around and had 17 assists compared to Cleveland's nine at the break and led 53-49.

-- Following his offensive flurry to end the half, Hart completely caught fire in the third quarter, especially from deep, and went 3-for-3 behind the line, all assisted by Brunson. His third three-pointer of the quarter gave him 24 points. Speaking of Brunson, the point guard had six assists in the third quarter alone and finished with a playoff career-high 14.

For Hart's part, he added seven dimes to go along with his game-high 26 points, as well as four rebounds and two steals.

After outscoring the Cavs 32-21 in the third quarter, the Knicks' lead ballooned to as high as 19 points.

-- The fourth quarter started ice cold for New York, with Cleveland going on an 8-0 run, mostly off free throws, to get the game to within striking distance. But the Knicks' offense eventually won out and put an end to any inkling of a Cavs comeback. Anunoby and Bridges hit some key shots before Brunson got to work late in the game, finishing with 19 points.

New York's starting five all finished in double-digits. Bridges had 19, Towns had 18 with 13 rebounds and Anunoby had 14. Brunson ended with a double-double, his eighth playoff double-double and 61st of his career.

-- The Knicks have now won nine straight playoff games with a +212 point differential in that stretch.

Game MVP: Josh Hart

It was Hart's scoring outburst in the third quarter that took the game from close to a blowout.

Highlights

KAT from just in front of the logo! pic.twitter.com/DWdmStG1fg

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2026

OG Anunoby gets a piece of James Harden's shot and turns it into a bucket on the other end pic.twitter.com/T1RZa5IVbU

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2026

KAT with back-to-back tough buckets 💪 pic.twitter.com/6PMK505pGL

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2026

Deuce from downtown 🎯 pic.twitter.com/uKvoTl8EyP

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2026

Bridges to the basket 💪 pic.twitter.com/RaWbYeh1S6

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 22, 2026

What's next

The series switches over to Cleveland, where the Knicks and Cavaliers will play Game 3 on Saturday night at 8 p.m.