The New York Knicks kept rolling Saturday night, and coach Mike Brown said the performance showed a team that stayed “locked in from the beginning of the game” in a 121-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
“Our guys played a good game,” Brown said after New York moved within one victory of its first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. “Chris Jent challenged our guys to start the game, especially with execution of the first play, and our guys did it.”
The Knicks never trailed, opened with a 9-1 burst, and shot 55.8% from the field while also going 24-for-27 at the foul line. Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Mikal Bridges added 22, and OG Anunoby finished with 21 as New York stretched its postseason winning streak to 10 games.
Brown praised the balance across the roster, pointing to Bridges as “our hub offensively” and Anunoby as “fantastic” for the way he kept pressure on the Cavaliers. “He hit some timely buckets for us, play after play,” Brown said of Anunoby. “Mikal was our hub offensively, seven assists, zero turnovers. He was really good for us on both ends.”
Brown also singled out Miles McBride and the Knicks’ bench, which gave the starters steady support throughout the night. “McBride, man, he just got to his spots,” Brown said. “He had big shot after big shot.”
The coach said the second unit fit the game plan well against Cleveland’s defensive looks. “Everybody that came off the bench, they played great minutes for us,” Brown said. “Our guys did a great job playing out of our concepts especially when they were blitzing, soft blitzing, kind of zoning up and doing different things defensively.”
Landry Shamet was one of the biggest bench sparks, hitting three 3-pointers in a 99-second stretch during the fourth quarter to help put the game away. Brown said Shamet was “huge” and credited the spacing around Brunson for creating the opening.
“Because of the way we were playing conceptually, really trying to play fast, trying to space the floor the right way, trying to touch the paint, trying to make quick decisions with the basketball,” Brown said.
Brown said the Knicks have embraced the grind of a deep playoff run rather than treating it like a burden. “This is hard,” he said. “We’re playing good teams. We’re playing a team right now with four NBA All-Stars and two of the best shooters in the league. On top of those four NBA All-Stars they have a fantastic coach in Kenny. There’s nothing easy about this.”
He also credited New York’s organizational approach and the depth it has built. “You keep guys engaged by doing that and you develop not just the bench but the team as well because guys get used to playing with other guys just in case something goes down,” Brown said.
With the Knicks now one win from the NBA Finals, Brown said the message stays the same. “It’s just one game at a time,” he said. “There’s nothing easy about this.”
