On Tuesday night, for the first time in nine days, the New York Knicks will play a playoff game when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden.
After sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals on May 10, the No. 3 seed Knicks have had plenty of time to rest, while the No. 4 seed Cavaliers will return to the court less than 48 hours after defeating the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons 125-94 Sunday night in Game 7 of their series. Cleveland had the third-largest margin of victory in a Game 7 game on the road in NBA history.
The Knicks are in the conference finals for the second consecutive season and are as hot as any team. They have won seven consecutive games by an average of 26.4 points per game, including defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers by a franchise playoff record 51 points in clinching the first round series and scoring a franchise playoff-high 144 points in a Game 4 victory over the 76ers.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are in the conference finals for the first time since they made it four consecutive seasons from 2015 through 2018 during LeBron James’s second stint with the franchise. Back then, Cleveland advanced to four straight NBA finals, each against the Golden State Warriors, including winning its first (and only) title in 2016.
During the regular season, the Knicks won two of three games against the Cavaliers. New York won the season opener at home 119-111 and the Christmas Day game at home 126-124 and lost 109-94 in Cleveland on Feb. 24. The Cavaliers played the first two games without James Harden, who joined the team via trade in February.
In this series, the Knicks host at MSG on Tuesday and Thursday night before traveling to play Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and next Monday in Cleveland. The Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern conference a season ago, but they lost to the Indiana Pacers in five games in the conference semifinals. The Pacers then defeated the Knicks in six games in the conference finals.
Below, we look at the four times the Knicks and Cavaliers have met in the playoffs, with each occurring in the first round. The Knicks have won all four series and are favored again.
Each team still has three players on their rosters who started the last time they met in the postseason in 2023: the Knicks have Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson, while the Cavaliers have Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
1978 First Round – Knicks Win 2-0
The Knicks and Cavaliers each went 43-39 during the regular season, but Cleveland received the No. 4 seed and home court advantage. Still, the Knicks won Game 1 on the road 132-112, as Bob McAdoo led the team with 41 points and five other New York players scored in double figures. Two days later, the Knicks returned to Madison Square Garden and clinched the series with a 109-107 victory. McAdoo and Spencer Haywood had 27 points apiece for the Knicks.
In the next round, the Knicks were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers, ending Willis Reed’s first season as coach. Reed took over for legendary coach Red Holzman, who resigned. But in November 1978, the Knicks fired Reed and replaced him with Holzman. Holzman, who led the Knicks to their only two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, retired in November 1982.
1995 First Round – Knicks Win 3-1
One year after losing in the 1994 NBA finals, the Knicks entered as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern conference and faced the Cavaliers, the No. 6 seed that had won 12 fewer games in the regular season. The teams split the first two games at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks won 83-81 in Cleveland in Game 3 when Cavaliers forward Danny Ferry missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer. Three days later, the Knicks clinched the series with a 13-point victory as guard Derek Harper had 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
New York then lost in seven games to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals. After falling behind three games to one, the Knicks won the next two, forcing a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. But with the Knicks trailing by two points, star center Patrick Ewing missed a two-footer at the buzzer, ending their season with a 97-95 loss.
1996 First Round – Knicks Win 3-0
The Knicks are rarely a boring franchise, and this season was no different. In March 1996, the franchise fired coach Don Nelson, who had taken over for Pat Riley, who resigned the previous June. Jeff Van Gundy, in his seventh season as a New York assistant, replaced Nelson and helped the Knicks to a three-game sweep over the Cavaliers.
Still, the Knicks’ season ended in the next round, as the Chicago Bulls won four games to one in Michael Jordan’s first season back after taking years off to play minor league baseball. The Bulls ended up winning the title that year. Van Gundy, meanwhile, kept the Knicks near the top of the conference for the next five seasons, including leading them to the NBA finals in 1999, the last time they have advanced that far.
2023 First Round – Knicks Win 4-1
The Cavaliers made the playoffs for the first time since LeBron James left after leading the franchise to four consecutive NBA finals from 2015 through 2018. They went 51-31 and entered the postseason as the No. 4 seed. The Knicks, meanwhile, went 47-35, their best regular season record in a decade. After the teams split the first two games in Cleveland, the Knicks won three of four to clinch their first series victory since 2013.
In the next round, the Knicks were favored against the No. 8 seed Miami Heat, which only advanced to the playoffs after winning a play-in game. But the Heat upset the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round and then defeated the No. 5 seed Knicks in six games in the conference semifinals. The Heat ended up losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the NBA finals.
