The New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years after throttling the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 on Monday to finish off a sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.

Third-seeded New York extended its play-off winning streak to 11 games – tied for the third-longest in NBA history – and continued its dominant play in the postseason.

Since falling behind 2-1 in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks – with each loss coming by just one point – the Knicks have outscored Atlanta, the Philadelphia 76ers and sixth-seeded Cleveland by an average of 23.8 points over those 11 wins while shooting 53.3 per cent from the field.

They closed out the first round with a 51-point victory over the Hawks in Game 6, a 30-point win in completing a sweep of the 76ers in the East semi-finals and Monday’s 37-point rout of the Cavaliers.

New York, which lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games in last season’s East finals and has not won an NBA title since 1973, will take on the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Finals on June 3.

The Thunder are set to host the Spurs in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday with the series tied 2-2.

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— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 26, 2026

Jalen Brunson was named MVP of the East finals after averaging 25.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the four-game sweep of the Cavaliers.

OG Anunoby added 16.3 points, 5.8 boards and 3.3 assists per game in the series, Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 15.8 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and Josh Hart contributed 14.3 points, 7.8 boards, 5.5 assists and 2.25 steals.

Landry Shamet set an NBA play-off series record by going 11 of 12 from three-point range for New York, which went 53-29 in its first season under head coach Mike Brown.

Cleveland posted a 52-30 record in the regular season and returned to the conference finals for the first time since 2018 by beating the top-seeded Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the semis.

The Cavaliers, though, failed to build on that win and never recovered after blowing a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 1 against New York and losing 115-104 in overtime.

From the 7:42 mark of the fourth quarter in that contest, the Knicks outscored the Cavaliers 44-11.

In two campaigns under head coach Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland has posted a 116-48 record during the regular season but gone 13-14 in the play-offs.

Those 116 victories are the third-most in the NBA over the last two seasons behind Oklahoma City (132) and the Boston Celtics (117).

The Cavaliers were the top seed in the East last season before losing in five games to the Pacers in the conference semifinals.