The New York Knicks need one more win to advance to the NBA Finals after picking up a 121-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 on Saturday night. Outside of their poor Game 1 performance, which still ended with a 22-point comeback in under eight minutes for a win, the Knicks have looked like the clearly superior team in this matchup.
The Knicks’ team-oriented basketball ethos shone through once again as their starting five combined for 98 out of their 121 points on the night. They also tallied 33 rebounds, 24 assists, and 11 steals as a five-man unit, highlighting their incredible proficiency. Nonetheless, Jalen Brunson stepped up offensively to lead all scorers with 30 points.
The Knicks went 43-77 (55.8 FG%) from the field in a surgical performance where all their core players did their job as Brunson finished their opponents off. Let’s take a deeper look and see what grades the players earned after this performance.
Mikal Bridges: A+
Game Stats: 22 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK, 2 TOV, 11-15 FG, 0-1 3P, 29 MIN
Mikal Bridges might not have had as productive a scoring night as Brunson, but it’s hard to argue that Brunson was the better player overall tonight. Mikal had one of the best two-way games by a wing player this postseason, leading the Knicks’ defensive unit while also ensuring he can be an offensive contributor ahead of his other teammates.
Bridges came under fire for his poor performances at the end of the regular season and through the first few games of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, but his form over the last 10 games is proving he might be one of the biggest x-factors for the Knicks. When Bridges is playing like this, the Knicks are basically unbeatable.
Jalen Brunson: A
Game Stats: 30 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 4 TOV, 10-19 FG, 0-4 3P, 10-12 FT, 41 MIN
Jalen Brunson was the head of the snake once again, but his production faltered in the early stages of the game before an unsurprising fourth-quarter takeover. Brunson had 21 of his 30 points in the second half alone, ensuring that the Cavaliers never managed to threaten New York’s wire-to-wire win with any comebacks.
Brunson’s defensive performance was quite disappointing, especially with James Harden finding success against Brunson as a defender. However, as long as his offense can ensure he’s a net-positive on the court, nobody will have a problem with it.
OG Anunoby: A
Game Stats: 21 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 1 TOV, 6-10 FG, 3-4 3P, 6-6 FT, 31 MIN
OG Anunoby has been one of the most underrated players throughout the Knicks’ postseason run in the eyes of everyone but Anne Hathaway. Tonight was another example of his terrific impact as a two-way player. While Hart starts as the on-paper power forward, Anunoby regularly matches up with bigger forwards or even bigs like Mobley when required, despite it putting him at a physical disadvantage. Nonetheless, Anunoby always finds ways to be successful. Anunoby put the best parts of his two-way skill set together for this Game 3 win.
Karl-Anthony Towns: A
Game Stats: 13 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK, 4-9 FG, 1-3 3P, 4-4 FT, 36 MIN
Karl-Anthony Towns might have sparked the Knicks’ Playoff turnaround by adjusting his role in New York’s offense after consultation with head coach Mike Brown after they fell to a 2-1 series deficit in the first round. Since then, the Knicks haven’t lost a game, and Towns has become successful in a role where he’s essentially a post-playmaker before a scorer on this roster.
He’s not having flashy 20-point nights anymore, but he’s been one of the best two-way centers in the postseason by covering every hole on the Knicks roster with his play. Tonight was another great example of that.
Josh Hart: A
Game Stats: 12 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 4 STL, 4 TOV, 5-12 FG, 2-7 3P, 35 MIN
Josh Hart plays with metronomic consistency when it comes to his effort on rebounding and defense. Some nights, he can go off for almost 30 points and make a Knicks win a mere formality, while other games, like tonight, have him be a role-player in the scheme of the offense, but with never-ending defensive pressure. Hart did exactly that in a game where he quietly stuffed the stat sheet with his significant contributions.
Landry Shamet: B+
Game Stats: 14 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 2 TOV, 4-5 FG, 4-5 3P, 2-3 FT, 28 MIN
Landry Shamet played a crucial sixth-man role in limited minutes by helping the Knicks keep their offensive pressure alive even when the starters were out. Shamet’s three-point shooting created a major difference, as the Knicks’ style of play all game chose to attack Cleveland’s defenders instead of focusing on three-point shooting. Shamet’s contribution led to the vital points that allowed the Knicks to keep a testy double-digit lead for most of the clash.
Miles McBride: B
Game Stats: 5 PTS, 1 BLK, 1-3 FG, 1-2 3P, 2-2 FT, 14 MIN
Miles McBride was one of the only options the Knicks had in terms of a secondary ball-handler. He spent his 14 minutes on the court sensibly as a high-effort defender and an on-ball option. McBride and Shamet were the only bench players on the Knicks to get consistent minutes in this game, with everyone else not getting more than spot minutes to fill out rotations in specific quarters.
Mitchell Robinson: C
Game Stats: 2 PTS, 3 REB, 1-1 FG, 12 MIN
Mitchell Robinson has averaged about 10 minutes a game in the postseason, and that’s about close to how many minutes he played in Game 3. He played spot minutes in the first half, although his two-minute run in the second quarter led to a -5 plus/minus for the center. He played five minutes in the third quarter as an imposing interior presence, but he ended the game as a -4 and didn’t pose much of a threat to the productive Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley duo in this clash.
Jose Alvarado: C
Game Stats: 2 PTS, 1 TOV, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3P, 4 MIN
Jose Alvarado also had just a cameo in the second quarter but managed to score a bucket during his time.
Jordan Clarkson: C
Game Stats: 3 MIN
Jordan Clarkson only played a couple of minutes in the second quarter, where the team was outscored by five points, after which he wasn’t subbed in again.
