NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 on Thursday night.
Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their ninth straight game. That's the NBA's longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship.
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New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell (45), Evan Mobley (4) and Jarrett Allen (31) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) fight for control of the ball with Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) and forward Dean Wade (32) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) dunks past Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) is blocked by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Hart went 5 from 11 from 3-point range and also had seven assists.
“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Knicks made sure they would be in control late with an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 71-53 lead. Fans chanted “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!” in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches.
“In our mind it’s 0-0. We’ve got to win the next game. It’s the most important game of the year and that’s how we treat it,” Towns said.
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.
“Nothing to hang our head about," Mitchell said. "They protected home court, and we’ve seen this before so we’re going to go to Game 3.”
The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but haven’t played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.
Brunson scored 38 points and led the Game 1 comeback. He had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the run that broke open the game and finished the highest assist total of his playoff career.
Hart burned a Cavaliers defensive strategy that seemed built around leaving him open from long range after he was benched for the rally in Game 1, playing just three minutes combined in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The forward had been shooting just 26.7% from 3-point range and after a third straight miss from long range early Thursday, he put his jersey in his mouth and bit it, bouncing the ball down hard in frustration three times. But he kept firing.
“I knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I’d be good,” Hart said.
Mitchell got off to a slow start with just seven points in the first half, triggering more of the questions that followed Game 1 about whether he was injured. His 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left gave Cleveland a 27-24 lead after one.
The Knicks led 53-49 at halftime. The Cavs got the first two baskets of the third to tie it, but Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to start the 18-0 run. He had two more buckets in the burst and Hart hit a pair of 3-pointers, the latter capping it to make it 71-53 with 5:36 remaining in the third. After the Cavs scored five straight, Hart made another 3 and Towns scored to restore the 18-point advantage.
Cleveland cut it to single digits with just under eight minutes left but ruined any chance of getting closer with poor free-throw shooting, missing 10 in the game and finishing at 68.8%. The Knicks eventually pushed their lead to 19 points.
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New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell (45), Evan Mobley (4) and Jarrett Allen (31) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) fight for control of the ball with Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) and forward Dean Wade (32) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) dunks past Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) is blocked by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the second half of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
President Donald Trump insists a peace deal is close on this 88th day of the Iran war, but Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. airstrikes as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations continue. Meanwhile, state media in Lebanon reports that Israel has killed 12 more people in another strike. Iran has demanded that any deal must include an end to hostilities in Lebanon and Gaza.
In Washington, the president has a medical checkup on his schedule, and the redistricting war also continues — the Congressional Black Caucus is urging corporate America to get involved to save voting rights, ending a collective retreat during Trump’s second presidency. in Texas, the Trump-backed, scandal-plagued Ken Paxton is favored over Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday's GOP primary runoff election.
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She noted probes touching on diversity practices, ABC’s moderation of a 2024 presidential debate, guest bookings on “The View” and calls for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired. She said the FCC’s move for early reviews of ABC’s local broadcast licenses is “the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date.”
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The Iranians will return each night to a base in Tijuana, Mexico, after their U.S. group stage matches, President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed.
Sheinbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by a FIFA representative that the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time in the U.S. outside the stadiums while the war launched by the U.S. and Israel continues.
“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum said. A FIFA representative then asked, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?” “And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that’,” she said.
A U.S. State Department statement Monday said Trump made it clear the Iranian team is welcome to participate. The statement did not address where the team might stay, or Sheinbaum’s comments.
Israel’s military clashed with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants Tuesday along the strategic Litani River in Lebanon as Israeli troops tried to push farther north, just three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet for direct talks in Washington.
A previously reached ceasefire appears more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran wants an end to the fighting to include Lebanon. Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns. Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon.
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A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively.
“I think concern for the president’s physical health is probably at an all-time high, and I think advanced physical age is the No. 1 concern,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as a White House physician under Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Kuhlman said a complete physical would include advanced heart testing, screening for common cancers and a cognitive assessment. The White House has not disclosed what Trump’s checkups will entail.
“President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.
U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly as gas prices remained at or above a national average of $4.50 a gallon in May and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices that have neared record levels.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains.
The index follows a separate gauge of consumer sentiment compiled by the University of Michigan, which fell to a record low this month. Spikes in gas prices as well as higher food costs have worsened inflation, which has outpaced the growth in average paychecks in recent months, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Polls show Americans have soured on Trump’s economic policies, which could harm Republicans in this year’s elections.
Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. strikes a day earlier as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the war.
The U.S. military said it acted with restraint in defensively targeting missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that “The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, which did not say when this happened.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said an explosion was reported Tuesday morning aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Oman. No one was injured and there was no immediate information on the cause.
The new congressional map would give Republicans an advantage in a key House race this November. But the preliminary injunction issued by a three-judge panel requires the state, at least for now, to instead use the same court-ordered districts under which congressional representatives were elected in 2024.
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The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil fell 3.8% to $92.99 on Tuesday after resuming trading following the Memorial Day holiday, and U.S. stocks were catching up to others around the world that climbed after Trump said Iran talks were “proceeding nicely.”
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The Congressional Black Caucus is calling on major U.S. corporations to oppose Republican-led redistricting efforts that seek to eliminate majority-Black U.S. House districts.
Their letter sent Tuesday urges more than 250 companies to condemn “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some had cosigned their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.
That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, included Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.
“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” the caucus chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, said in an interview.
The White House said Trump would participate in a greeting with service members and hospital staff before he spends hours being examined by a team of doctors.
It is the Republican president’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office in January 2025, and it comes as the nearly 80-year-old Trump tries to project strength going into November elections that will test his sway with voters.
The White House says the visit is an annual preventive medical and dental checkup. Trump was last at Walter Reed in October and also had a physical there in April 2025.
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There’s no law requiring these disclosures and the degree of transparency varies.
Presidents for decades have released medical test results to try to reassure the public that they are up to the high-pressure job.
But the president signs off on what is released, which raises questions about what isn’t being shared.
Trump’s past medical reports have been criticized for offering scant detail and including statistics that some medical experts eyed with skepticism.
It will be several hours before the White House releases any information about Tuesday’s exam.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, smiles at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listens to State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)
President Donald Trump, from left, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
