Dear Commons Community,

Congratulations to the New York Knicks for being the NBA Eastern Conference Champions and on their way to the NBA finals.   Here is a recap courtesy of The Athletic.

The Knicks are headed to the big dance for the first time since 1999 after they completed a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. New York beat the “home” Cavs, 130-93, in Game 4 — and it felt like all five boroughs took over Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.  It was a total team effort from start to finish with all of the Knick players making contributions. 

Jalen Brunson, MVP for the conference finals, scored 15 points with five assists in the blowout. Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points and 14 boards on 8-of-11 shooting. OG Anunoby, the lone Knick who has already won a finals with the 2019 Raptors, finished with 17 points.

The Knicks have won 11 in a row and swept both the 76ers and Cavs. They were up by 40 on Cleveland through three games and just about doubled that Sunday night. It was total dominance, no matter what Kenny Atkinson said about the analytics.

The “Let’s Go Knicks” chants were startling, borderline deafening. Knick fan celebrities like Timothée Chalamet, Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan and Fat Joe showed up, even if they were kicked to the second row for violating rules cheering against the Cavs in floor seats. 

This is the Knicks’ ninth finals berth — they haven’t won a title since 1973. They’ll once again have ample rest ahead of the next round, getting to put their legs up while the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs bash each other out West.

One of those teams will host Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 31 points. James Harden had a bad series, and in the finale scored 12 points and missed all six of his 3s. Evan Mobley contributed 15 points and seven boards. Cleveland reserve guard Dennis Schröder missed Game 4 with what the Cavs simply called an “illness.” He likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

The Knicks shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first quarter and built a 38-26 lead, but the tone was set just as much by their substantially large traveling fan base. The 20-0 run the Knicks launched near the end of the first quarter that ran into the second and turned this into a total blowout — well, that’s more of a player thing.

All postseason long, Knick Coach Mike Brown has said that the hardest game in the playoffs is the one closing out a series.

Well, he lied.

After closing out the Atlanta Hawks in the first round with a 51-point win and taking down the Philadelphia 76ers with a 30-point victory in a Game 4 sweep, the Knicks guaranteed themselves their first trip to the NBA Finals in 27 years with a victory over the Cavs.

New York’s dominant run has made the franchise feel invincible. The Knicks dropped the first two of three games to the Hawks in the first round and have been on as dominant a postseason run as there has been in NBA history. They go into the NBA Finals having won 11 straight playoff games.

As far as confidence goes, New York has plenty of it going into the sport’s most prestigious stage. The Knicks will need all the confidence they can get. They can beat either Oklahoma City or San Antonio, but it won’t be as easy as their path in the Eastern Conference has made it seem.

Go Knicks!

Tony