Knicks take complete control of Eastern Conference Finals with wire-to-wire Game 3 win over Cavs

The Knicks defeated the Cavaliers 121-108 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup on Saturday night.

New York has won 10 playoff games in a row, holding a commanding 3-0 series advantage.

Here are some takeaways…

– Taking the series on the road for the first time the Knicks got off to about as good a start they could’ve hoped for, opening up a quick 9-1 advantage and forcing the Cavs to call a timeout less than two minutes in. The home team was able to find their footing from there, but New York continued thriving, as well.

– The Knicks’ depth scoring stepped up early with Jalen Brunson struggling once again. Led by Karl-Anthony Towns (11) and Mikal Bridges (six) they had seven different players record a bucket as they shot a combined 72 percent from the field as a team to carry a double-digit advantage through the opening quarter.

– New York finally cooled off as the Cavs tightened things up early in the second, and they quickly used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to two points. With Donovan Mitchell briefly forced to the locker room, an aggressive James Harden was able to find his rhythm offensively, putting energy right back into the building.

– The Knicks weathered the second quarter storm, never letting Cleveland jump in front, and they were able to reopen a six-point advantage heading into the break. Even with the brief tough stretch New York shot 57 percent from the field as a team in the opening half, while the Cavaliers made just 3-of-19 threes.

– A sloppy Cleveland stretch midway through the third allowed the Knicks to open their largest lead of the game at the time (13), but they were once again unable to put the home team away for good, as the deficit was cut back down to nine points heading into the fourth quarter (91-82).

– A Hart three and Bridges lay-in sandwiched between a Cavs miss quickly pushed the lead up to 14 minutes into the fourth. Cleveland continued to fight but clutch buckets from the Knicks down the stretch helped them keep the commanding advantage and put this one to rest for good.

– Landry Shamet was big closing down the stretch, hitting three of his four threes. Brunson led all scorers with 30 points, Bridges stayed hot with 22 on 11-of-15 shooting, Anunoby had 21 on 6-of-10 shooting, Towns finished with a line of 13-8-7, and Hart had 12-9-5.

– New York shot a strong 56 percent from the field as a team and 39 percent from three.

Game MVP: Mikal Bridges

Bridges continued his terrific stretch, playing outstanding ball on both ends of the floor.

Highlights