Josh Hart's 26 Points Power Knicks to 2-0 Series Lead

Josh Hart’s 26 Points Power Knicks to 2-0 Series Lead

Sport

By lines

May 21, 2026

Josh Hart leads Knicks past Cavaliers 109-93 in NBA ECF Game 2

Knicks Cavaliers Game 2 belonged to Josh Hart. Hart set a playoff career-high 26 points Thursday night. The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 at Madison Square Garden. New York leads the Eastern Conference finals 2-0, halfway to a first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.

How Hart’s Career Night Cracked Cleveland’s Defense

New York broke the game with an 18-0 run in the third quarter. That burst pushed the Knicks ahead 71-53 at Madison Square Garden. Knicks fans chanted “Knicks in four!” with more than a minute left. The starters had already left the floor before the final buzzer.

Jalen Brunson totaled 19 points and 14 assists. Mikal Bridges added 19 points for New York. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 26 points. James Harden added 18 for the Cavaliers. The combined 44 points from Mitchell and Harden could not slow New York’s third-quarter surge. Cleveland scored only 11 points in the third quarter.

Brunson had only 2 points in the first half before igniting the third-quarter run. Hart burned Cleveland on cuts and spot-up attempts all night. Towns delivered his second double-double of these conference finals. Towns finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds across 38 minutes. The Knicks’ 18-0 run came in just under seven minutes of game clock.

The Knicks’ nine-game postseason winning streak is the NBA’s longest since 2024. The Boston Celtics won 10 straight en route to the 2024 championship. New York is the 13th team in NBA history to win nine consecutive playoff games. Twelve teams reached that nine-game mark before New York. Only the 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs failed to reach the Finals from that group.

Cleveland now faces a steep historical climb. Only two NBA teams ever overcame multiple 2-0 deficits in one postseason. The 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks did it and won the title. The 2020-21 Los Angeles Clippers did it and lost in the Western Conference finals. The Cavaliers clawed out of a 2-0 hole in the second round. Cleveland has not faced back-to-back series deficits in the same postseason since 2018.

Game 3 is Saturday night in Cleveland. Yahoo Sports reported conditioning questions about Donovan Mitchell persist heading into Saturday. Brunson’s 14 assists in Game 2 exposed Cleveland’s inability to stop New York’s drive-and-kick game. The Cavaliers host Game 3 needing a response before the series potentially returns to New York for Game 4.