Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 109-93 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden:
Hero
The Cavaliers dared Josh Hart to beat them, and he obliged. After getting benched at the end of Game 1, and starting cold in Game 2, the gritty Hart found his shot.
He made five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 26 points, along with seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Zero
At halftime, Evan Mobley was on his way to a monster game, tallying 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Then he vanished, going scoreless over the final 24 minutes as the Knicks ran away and hid from his Cavaliers.
Somehow, Mobley didn’t take a single shot over the final two quarters. He was getting in plenty of cardio.
Unsung hero
Jalen Brunson doesn’t have to pile up points to make a difference.
The Cavaliers took away the Knicks’ top offensive weapon, so he served the role of playmaker to a tee, dishing out a career playoff-high 14 assists. Brunson also scored 19 points.
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Key stats
221 — The Knicks’ positive point differential, the highest of any team through the first 12 games of a postseason.
Quote
“He’s the perfect example for any basketball player who wants to learn how to truly impact the winning of a team, and he does that at the highest level.”
– Karl Anthony Towns on Josh Hart.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
