Knicks, Cavaliers open East finals at Madison Square Garden, where they began with high expectations

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GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers were sent to face Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks in a nationally televised season opener and again to kick off Christmas, NBA schedule makers clearly viewing that as the Eastern Conference's marquee matchup.

Good guess, it turns out.

The Cavaliers and Knicks will be back under the same bright lights of Madison Square Garden where they began the season Tuesday, this time for Game 1 of the conference finals.

“It's go-time now,” Brunson said Monday.

The Knicks have been on a record-setting playoff rampage. The Cavaliers, bolstered by the acquisition of James Harden, surged late in the season and powerfully ousted Detroit, the East's No. 1 seed, in the second round.

That sent Mitchell into the conference finals for the first time and also sent him home. He's a native of Elmsford, New York, just down the road from where the Knicks practice.

“Yeah it’s great I get to play at home, woo, but it doesn’t matter,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to be locked in and ready to go, and I know we will be.”

The Knicks finished third in the East and the Cavs fourth, well behind not only Detroit but also Boston. But seven months after the Knicks beat the Cavaliers in Mike Brown's first game as their coach, the teams have become who people thought they would be.

Cleveland began the season as the East's betting favorite, a spot it later reclaimed after acquiring Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Knicks were the second choice entering the season but ascended to the top earlier in the postseason and the way they're playing it's clear why.

New York has won seven straight games and outscored Atlanta and Philadelphia by a combined 194 points, the largest margin ever through a team’s first 10 postseason games. The Knicks reached 140 points in both series clinchers.

“They’re rested and they’re a juggernaut right now," Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I mean, it’s just what it is. It’s hard to blow out teams in the playoffs like they’ve been blowing out. Point differential means something in this league.”

The Cavs were just good enough rather than great for most of this postseason, needing seven games to get by both Toronto and Detroit. But they won their final two road games against the 60-win Pistons, including a 125-94 rout in Game 7.

Jarrett Allen scored 23 points and Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds, a reminder that the Cavs are way more than just their high-scoring backcourt.

“I remember back in the day when I was with Pop, Pop said you need three All-Stars to win a championship. Well, they've got four,” Brown said, referring to his time as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.

The Knicks beat the Cavs in five games in the 2023 first round, Brunson's first season in New York, improving to 4-0 in series between the teams. New York is 12-2 against Cleveland in playoff games, also winning series in 1978, 1995 and 1996.

Besides Mitchell, both coaches are going back to former homes. Brown had two stints coaching the Cavaliers, leading them to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007. Atkinson is from Long Island and was an assistant to Mike D'Antoni with the Knicks who later got his first head coaching job with Brooklyn.

The Knicks haven't played since May 10. The Cavs have one full day off between rounds.

The time off helps the Knicks get healthy, with OG Anunoby fully practicing again after missing the final two games against Philadelphia with a strained right hamstring. But it might hurt a team that has been in such a good rhythm.

“I’ve been in both situations. I’ve been playing while the team is waiting and I’ve been waiting while a team is playing, and you can say a lot theoretically,” Brown said. “You could say that they’re going to be tired, but you can also say they have a competitive edge because they’ve been going at it for seven games and we’ve been off."

The Cavaliers have been getting of contributions well beyond Mitchell and Harden.

Mobley has been a force at both ends. He is averaging 17 points but leads the team in rebounding (8.0) and is tied in blocks (1.9). Allen has had two strong Game 7s but has also benefited from Harden wanting to force things closer to the basket.

Max Strus, Dennis Schroder and Sam Merrill have also provided valuable minutes off the bench. Strus had key steals in the Game 3 and 5 wins over the Pistons. Schroeder is providing another veteran ballhandler when Harden and Mitchell are on the bench, while Merrill has a 40.4% accuracy rate on 3-pointers.

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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.

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