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2026 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks @ Cavaliers Game 3 – Lockdown Time

The Knicks head to Cleveland to officially put this series on lockdown.

The Knicks will win this series even if they lose tonight, but, well, I mean, come on, you obviously want to win this one so that it would probably become a sweep.

Let’s go, Knicks!

Only six more wins to go!

301 replies on “2026 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks @ Cavaliers Game 3 – Lockdown Time”

How about a friendly wager on your position, Pags?

Since you think it’s normal for Jaylin Williams to score 18 and Jared McCain 25, at least one of those things should happen again in this series, right?

I’ll give you either. If either happens, you win. If neither happens, I win.

Loser is not allowed to post until the NBA finals are over.

Jaylin Williams didn’t dominate in iso or anything, he just hit a bunch of threes which is not a shocker given his career percentage of 39.

Anyway I’m not taking this bet for 2 reasons.

1. My argument is not that McCain and Williams in particular are expected to do this. It’s that someone among OKC’s million interchangeable 3D guys will, as they always have when tested

2. I would not want to win this bet. You are one if my favorite posters here

The Cavs are slight favorites tonight, and they know this is a win-or-go-home game for them. If they win, they are back in the series. The talk and psychology totally change if we lose tonight, especially if we lose by 10-20 points. Nothing is over yet. The home team has held court so far, plus we could, or even should, have lost game 1. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! We need to win one of the next two. Let’s fucking go!!!!

how are the letting mitch practice free throws like that?!
just do the barry at this point. at least you are likely to score

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the last time we won our 11th playoff game the second largest graphics chip company had just announced its first quarterly report as a public company ($70mm in sales) and we put in a guy named brunson to replace a guy named childs for the last fifty three seconds.

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kat 3 to start
mikael attacking?!

but of course the free throws begin

it’s like the knicks heard atkinson’s coach address and said “yeah good advice”

Cavs cant play at this pace all game. By the 4th, they
ll have dead legs

Finally got in front of a tv only to see pogos…

Kinda dumb challenge.

p.s. — eat shit, Kenny.

josh didn’t want to shoot this quarter?
no problem, bring in shamet and bang

When this offense hums, nobody can stay with us.

Now time to get some lock-down defense.

Kat took like 4 steps on that drive

Eurostep looks different when the dude is legit 7′

Breen was waiting that KAT 3P to go in to say… BANG! But had to keep silent… 🙁

Pretty crazy Knicks have a double digit lead at end of 1st quarter considering Brunson was pretty brutal on both ends of the court.

Flawless 1st quarter, Cleveland even hit some tough shots through good defense.

Refs realizing this series is headed for a sweep are taking over trying to save the Cavs.

mitch looks gassed already. too much one handed free throw practice?

Mitch is having a terrible series.

In likely related news, he also posted something about a mental health struggle today.

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Yeah, it was reasonable to expect Mitch to be a difference-maker, given his history against this team, but…alas, not so much

Mitch is having a terrible series.

In likely related news, he also posted something about a mental health struggle today.

Maybe the hack-a-Mitch is getting to him… which is lame from the opponents coaches.

there’s 2 versions of announcer-less basketball showing:
Skycam
Above the Rim

next step is to get some proper camera angles and more importantly some mic’s surrounding the floor to hear on court chatter and action…

Yeah, it was too early to have a double digit lead… we are not very good at protecting leads for a long time… let’s wait for our time – the 4th quarter!

They are playing a lot harder now than earlier in the series. Hopefully they’ll be gassed later.

Mitchell is in the locker room and we don’t really know why. Seems like the Knicks should really be making Harden work as hard as possible on defense and wear him down a little

I believe Mitchell checked back into the game right before the timeout.

This one is looking like a fight unless we have one of those huge runs.

Never thought I’d see KAT making up for a bad offensive possession with great defense

OG starting to look like himself is a good thing

Except the part where he throws it away

OG sends the ball outbounds and Breen says “and there’s the intangibles of Jarrett Allen” ??

Had a chance to close that out up 8 or 9 but whatever I’ll take it. We played pretty badly for a long stretch there and we’re still up 6

I guess we should be happy with a 6pt halftime lead but feels a bit disappointing.

KAT on pace to play 40 minutes is not optimal

If it takes us to 3-0 it is optimal 😉

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Knicks defense could surely be better (27+27 points) and shots weren’t falling in Q2 (23 points). It seemed we were losing control at some point in the second quarter, but Cleveland is not as good as one would expect them to be tonight. We are ahead and with a good chance to win. Fingers crossed.

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Maybe the hack-a-Mitch is getting to him… which is lame from the opponents coaches.

No legal strategy is lame, especially when it is effective. The solution is simple.

Maybe the hack-a-Mitch is getting to him…

It did occur to me that several notable NBA players who disclosed mental health struggles also had notable free throw issues (Mitch, Ben Simmons, Nick Anderson)

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How the fuck did they let Draymond back in the studio? He’s awful, I can’t stand him. Please make that man irrelevant and stop giving him these appearances.

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no halftime show with the Skycam broadcast…

no endlessly annoying announcers during the game…

like a little slice of heaven there…

just got to use the regular camera shots and mic the court…done deal, it’ll be the preferred b-ball viewing mode for many…

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Mitch is goofy but he is human with all the attached sensitivities. No doubt it gets to him when tens of millions of people watch him being hacked and then miss free throws. This affects his game confidence and effort, and it showed in the regular season as well.

ha, the cavs arena started playing music, jalen went up and hit a jumpshot and shut that shit right down before they could get more than a few notes out…

I love how they’re kicking ass and it’s all, “DISASTER!” 🙂

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Hart needs to wake up, disaster start from him

He does have 5 steals but the turnovers aren’t ideal

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If we continue to get stops we will be fine. That’s how it’s always been. We can’t score every time we have the ball, nobody can, but the less we score the more we need to lean on our defense. If we continue to string stops together, we will be fine.

I love how they’re kicking ass and it’s all, “DISASTER!” 🙂

It’s the game thread, Brian. The team went from worst ever Knicks team to best ever in 7 mins in game 1 !! LOL

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Strus gassed after chasing Brunson means we should get better as the game goes on, we are a lot more rested than the Cavs.

Knicks would have the lead closer to 20 if it wasn’t for 4 of the dumbest turnovers imaginable this quarter.

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We’re not even playing well and we’re lapping these guys. Cavs have Cancun on the brain.

Hart is going to give me a stroke tonight. What does he have brain damage? We’ve had some of the most dumbass TOs this game or it would be over.

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Interesting possession by Deuce but I’ll take the FTs.

He was making fun at their baseline defense. LOL

Bench is playing pretty well tonight. Nice to see good minutes from Mitch.

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Nothing decided yet, but we are in a good place. Much better than one would expect for game 3 away from home after you went up 2-0. Keep your fingers crossed.

If they can close the 3rd still up more than ten, then the Cavs begin to realize that — (a) they lack the necessary skills , AND (b) they live in Cleveland.

It’s soul sucking.

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That was a moving screen by Mobley before his dunk. KAT would be 100% called for it.

I hope the banked shot doesn’t portend the change in their fortunes.

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Did anyone see the foul there? Looked clean by Mitch….

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Rama, have you met with Farfa yet?

Seems unlikely – unless I reroute to Palermo, which isn’t far, but the opposite direction from what I’m planning

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Strus turning into Rodman but huge basket by the Knicks to end the 3rd quarter.

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The Cavs are playing harder than NY and we are playing dumber than them or this game would be over already.

We have Mr. Clutch but they are on their home floor and it’s do or die for them. Our defense will decide this game. We need stop, after stop, after stop. Can we do this?

Looks like someone told KAT passing is fun again

Great assists by him this game 🙂

I am convinced the Knicks are wearing them down on O and D.
Their misses are from lack of confidence. You can see they are tentative

We don’t like easy games, so we tend to let teams get into the game again

Brunson is coming back at the 7 or 8 minute mark…this configuration ain’t gonna get it done

If these playoffs are any indication, Cavs make a mini push and the Knicks then surge into the teens again…

Need to stay focused on the defensive end, and get Brunson back in at the 9 minute mark …also give hart a rest and go 5 out

Might need to get Brunson back in quicker than usual.

As we should. A 3-0 lead in the series would be huge.

Our bigs have to stop contesting those drives if the defender is still in the vicinity

I honestly couldn’t imagine us winning this what is happening

The city is just an incredible place right now. I started a raucous “LANDRY SHAMET” chant at O’Keefe’s in Brooklyn Heights.

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Damn, that was a 6 point swing.

If Mikal hits that shot, it’s the game.

Had dinner in BK Heights and told my wife that guy next to us is an NBA player on a date — his name is Landry Shamet, he became a Knick a couple weeks later. The legend of Landry!

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The city is just an incredible place right now. I started a raucous “LANDRY SHAMET” chant at O’Keefe’s in Brooklyn Heights.

📣📣📣

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Seemed like a quick hook for Mitch. Cavs still three fouls away from bonus.

Not an optimal possession from OG – but at least he does look ok

“Brunson has controlled it here in the 4th quarter”
So what else is new? 😀

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I watched that Piston Cavs series and I kept saying they both were just not playing well. So many little things they weren’t doing.
Same here.
I’m mean the Cavs are quitting.

I’m starting to think about booking a ticket to NYC – forget about Palermo or Porto (sorry, Cyber)

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If I were Atkinson I’d give them an earful post game for giving up during that possession. But, given that the actual Kenny Atkinson is clinically dead, I guess he’s not in a position to.

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I’m starting to think about booking a ticket to NYC – forget about Palermo or Porto (sorry, Cyber)

Yeah, you have to think about the parade. 😉

Couldn’t have scripted it better! Wire to wire win in the most difficult game 3! I was afraid before the start, but was in no doubt after the first quarter. My wish now is that San Antonio destroys Oklahoma tomorrow.

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Josh Hart, well, it didn’t matter

This team is looking pretty pretty good

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This is the team that was promised…whatever happens in the Finals, this is a team to be proud of.

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We were so clearly the better team! Cleveland couldn’t win, we could only lose. But we are too good, experienced, and poised at this point to give the game to them.

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This is the team that was promised…whatever happens in the Finals, this is a team to be proud of.

100%

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1 win away from the NBA fucking Finals!!

You didn’t even had nothing to complain about tonight, BBA. 😉

Nah cyber I complained a few times tonight but I was definitely reaching 😂

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We let them score more than 100… make the team run some laps, MB!! LOL

Last time the Knicks were in the championship, I was in a box at the garden in one of the ugliest games I’ve seen in the playoffs as they got eliminated.
And now we are likely headed back.
Different team. No Cinderella this time

Love how Brown managed the game today.

Yeah, a perfect game from him. Loved it. 🙂

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Only way Spurs have a chance is if Wemby plays like game one every game.
Otherwise we’re playing OKC

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Send. Brooklyn. More. Picks.

I hope this will last until late June. 😉

Mikal had been the MVP of this series in the way that OG was against the Hawks. Each game another player has lit it up – JB, Hart, Landry – but he’s been the constant. Eff them picks.

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They are probably not 3-0 without Shamet, but Mikal is the MVP, indeed.

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Knicks over the last 10 games:

– highest eFG ever in a 10-game span

– 2nd highest FG% ever in a 10-game span (after the ‘87 Lakers)

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I don’t know wtf happened after that game 3 in Atlanta, I don’t know how they figured it out all of a sudden, but the Knicks have not been the same team ever since. Not even close! As my wife who is not a particular basketball fan just said “Wow, they take no prisoners!”

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Is this truly their first 10-game winning streak? If so, that’s so insane.

Edit: nevermind. First one in 13 years, but not ever.

We just have too much talent for Cleveland to match, Mitchell and Harden weren’t bad, Mobley and Allen showed up big, but it doesn’t matter, the teams are too far apart talent wise.

This is incredible.

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OG in his third game back from the hammy looks like pre-hammy playoff OG.

21 points on 6-10, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.

KAT’s line is amazing as well:

13 points on 4-9, 8 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 0 turnovers.

This is an incredibly balanced team.

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Absolutely worth staying up until 5 for

Edit: but now I’m going to sleep. ‘night, all! See you in two days.

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As the kids say these days, the Knicks have “aura.” They play with such confidence and never get rattled. Team goes on a run, we have answers. Team schemes to take out a player, we adjust. Wow, just wow

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Saw a Thunder fan this morning while walking my dog in my Knicks jacket. He just looked at me and said “orange and blue finals” and I said “thanks but I’d prefer the Spurs.”

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Saw a Thunder fan this morning while walking my dog in my Knicks jacket. He just looked at me and said “orange and blue finals” and I said “thanks but I’d prefer the Spurs.”

Shai is the last challenge for Brunson, just like M.Bison on Street Fighter in the 80s… let’s finish* this, JB! 🙂

*and then i’ll probably shed some happy tears, as i never dreamt we would be back after those dark 2000s and 2010s!

Brown has officially surpassed the Thibs high water mark for playoff wins.

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Mamdani tweeting #knickstape, this is not really life.

Are we sure he’s not a knickerblogger?

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The trolls exhibit classic West Coast bias, l They think so lowly of anyone we beat in the east that they equate all of our opponents to Compton College.

One used AI to create a trolling graphic, but bc he doesn’t know the first thing about this year’s Knicks, he pulled the 2024 roster 😂

I got love for Donovan.

I’ve always loved Donovan Mitchell’s game. Plus, he’s from Elmsford, I was just in Elmsford today. He’s a local kid.

I think if we can sweep the Cavs, we should be allowed to get Donovan Mitchell onto the Knicks without sending our falling into the apron.

And then, if we can sweep OKC, then we should get iHart back.

But maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Five stocks for Mikal to go along with his 11/15 shooting. He has also been automatic in transition, if he gets the ball on the break he is going to be laying it in.

I also can’t say enough about Mike Brown, who has every one of these guys playing like the platonic ideal of themselves. He pushed all the right buttons in this one.

Cavs’ biggest lead in this game? 0.

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