Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson added 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved within two wins of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 on Thursday night.

Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns posted 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Knicks extended their postseason winning streak to nine games, the longest active streak in the league.

Hart connected on 5 of 11 three-pointers, exploiting a defensive strategy that appeared to leave him open from long range, and also dished out seven assists.

“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Knicks took control with an 18-0 run in the third quarter, building a 71-53 lead.

“In our mind it’s 0-0. We’ve got to win the next game. It’s the most important game of the year and that’s how we treat it,” Towns said. Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden added 18 for the Cavaliers, who face a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round.

Brunson, who scored 38 points in Game 1, had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the decisive run and finishing with a playoff career-high in assists. Hart, benched for most of the fourth quarter and overtime in Game 1, started 0-for-3 from three-point range but kept shooting.

“I knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I’d be good,” Hart said. Mitchell got off to a slow start with seven first-half points, reigniting questions about his health.

Cleveland cut the deficit to single digits with under eight minutes left, but poor free-throw shooting (68.8%) doomed their comeback hopes. The Knicks eventually pushed the lead to 19 points.

Source: www.aljazeera.com