The Knicks beat the Cavaliers 109-93 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night, propelled by Josh Hart’s playoff career-high 26 points and a third-quarter burst that turned the game into a rout.
Hart went 5-for-11 from three-point range, finished with four rebounds, seven assists and two steals, and hit a string of triples during an 18-0 New York run in the third quarter that put the game out of reach. He missed his first three 3-point attempts in the opening period but then made five of his next eight long-range tries.
By halftime Hart had hit two threes and the Knicks led 53-49; by night’s end his efficiency from behind the arc had been the decisive swing. The Game 2 victory gave New York a 2-0 series lead over Cleveland and extended the Knicks’ playoff winning streak to nine straight games — the 13th team ever to reach that mark.
The Cavaliers had focused extra defensive attention on Jalen Brunson and left Hart open at times, a strategy that yielded unexpected returns. Brunson downplayed any design to hunt Hart for shots after the game: "Um, I'm really not trying to look for him. He just happens to be open," Brunson said. "So I gave him the ball."
Hart described his shooting sequence candidly. "Those first three … they felt good," he said. But he admitted initial frustration after the misses: "I was kind of frustrated with it because, obviously, I’ve been putting in the reps (with assistant coaches). I was frustrated at first. I was like, ‘Bro, this is not translating right now.'" He said in practice he had been taking smaller batches of shots with more focus on the details, a routine that appeared to pay off once he found a rhythm.
The numbers underline why the Knicks can feel confident. Hart’s 26 points came alongside seven assists, spreading the offense while Brunson drew the heavier defensive looks. Hart is shooting 30.4 percent from three in the postseason overall, but Thursday’s performance showed how a cold streak early can flip into a decisive run in a single game.
That swing mattered because the third-quarter 18-0 run removed any realistic chance of a Cavs comeback. The run was built on New York’s ability to move the ball and take advantage of the open looks that come when defenses overcommit to a primary scorer. Hart’s hot stretch came precisely when the Knicks needed a lift and it delivered a margin the Cavs could not overcome.
The tension in this series is simple and now urgent: Cleveland’s plan to neutralize Brunson has worked in the sense of prioritizing him, but it has also exposed the Cavs to secondary scorers who can win a night by themselves. New York has shown it can survive cold starts from role players and turn those into games that break open; Cleveland must decide whether to stick with its focus on Brunson or alter coverage to deny the Knicks’ surrounding shooters.
With New York up 2-0, the immediate question is who adjusts first. Whether coach Mike Brown changes matchups, or the Cavaliers alter their scheme to prevent open looks from the perimeter, will shape Game 3 and the tone of the series. The Knicks have the momentum and a proven playmaker in Hart on a streak — and in this postseason every stretch of hot shooting has a way of defining a series.
