Barbara Barker: It's time for the Knicks to put the Cavaliers out of their misery
Knicks' Mikal Bridges shoots the ball against the Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell during the third quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Rocket Arena on Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: Getty Images/Jason Miller
Get it done, Knicks. Get it done now.
Don’t exhale. Don’t think about the fact that you have four chances to get one win, four chances to become the first Knicks team in 27 years to play in the NBA Finals.
To give yourself the best chance to win an NBA title, not just play for one, then give Knicks fans the most memorable Memorial Day in franchise history by completing a sweep of the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Monday night.
This is how the Knicks need to be thinking after their disciplined and methodical 121-108 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday night gave them a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Knicks are the hottest team in the NBA right now. They have won 10 straight playoff games by a combined 225 points. They are 11-2 in the playoffs. Their only two losses, both to Atlanta in the first round, were each by a point.
And as good as the Knicks have been in the Eastern Conference Finals, it’s clear that the Cleveland team they are playing is completely spent. The Knicks need to take advantage of that on Monday.
“We have to come in knowing that this series isn’t over and keep our foot on their necks and try to win the game,” OG Anunoby said in his postgame interview on the court.
The Cavaliers have good reason to look exhausted. It took them seven games each time to win their first- and second-round series. Since April 29, Cleveland has not had more than a day off between basketball games.
The Knicks, by contrast, had eight days off after sweeping Philadelphia in the second round.
Yes, there’s something to be said about what a good, long rest between series can do for a team, and a sweep of the Cavaliers would set up the Knicks for one. If they close out the series on Monday, they will have eight days off before they tip off against the Thunder or the Spurs on June 3.
Oklahoma City has a 2-1 lead on San Antonio, which means the series will go at least five games. Considering how competitive that series is, it very well could go longer, with a possible Game 7 scheduled for May 30.
The assumption all season long has been that the Knicks have the talent to make it to the NBA Finals but don’t have much of a chance of beating the elite teams in the Western Conference. With the way the Knicks have been playing — with how connected and engaged they have been during the past month — we might have to revisit that thought.
This could be a much more competitive NBA Finals than anyone predicted, especially if the Knicks stay healthy while the Spurs and Thunder continue to beat each other up.
No one has looked more dominating than the Knicks this season. Yes, the quality of their opponents might not be at the same level as some teams in the West, but their run has been so decisive, so complete, involving different weapons every night, that it’s hard not to believe that the Knicks have a shot at getting that trophy that has eluded the franchise since 1973.
“We’ve won all these games in a row as a team. We’ve had this winning streak as a team,” Towns said. “We found ways to get these great wins as a team. As long as we stay together and stay unified, we feel and have always felt that the sky's the limit for us.”
Get it done. Get it done now. It's time to move on.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
