Knicks focus on title after accomplishing Dolan's first mandate of reaching the NBA Finals

CLEVELAND (AP) — The New York Knicks have accomplished one of owner James Dolan's mandates by reaching the NBA Finals.

Up next: The opportunity to end a 53-year championship drought.

Dolan said during a rare radio interview in January that the Knicks winning the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1999 was something “we absolutely got to do.”

New York did that on Monday night with a 130-93 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a four-game sweep in the conference finals.

The NBA Finals won't begin until June 3 in either Oklahoma City or San Antonio. The Western Conference finals is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 to be played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The lowest price for an upper-deck seat for Game 3 on June 8 at Madison Square Garden is $3,700 according to a survey of secondary-ticket sites.

Karl-Anthony Towns said the Knicks aren't going to be resting on their laurels while waiting to see who emerges as the Western Conference champion.

“It’s something that New York has been dying for a long time and we’ll enjoy that plane ride. But once we get in those cars and go to our respective homes, it’s going to be back to business,” said Towns, who is averaging 16.9 points and 10.6 rebounds in the postseason. “We’re all going to be in the gym tomorrow probably getting shots up, getting treatment, doing what we need to do to get ready for the next series already. We understand that the job’s not done.”

Towns doesn't want a repeat of Game 1 of this series, when the Knicks fell behind by 22 points before posting the second-largest fourth-quarter rally in NBA playoff history and winning 115-104 in overtime. The 11th-year center hinted the Knicks might scrimmage more during this break.

“Obviously rust will be a thing, just not having shot in an NBA game in a while, but we’ll do a better job this time around of just preparing for that kind of situation to happen,” Towns said. “We've just got to figure out a way to get those kind of game-like reps. I think the coaching staff heard us loud and clear. We want to get back to work to keep the rhythm and also maybe change up the philosophy of how we have those.”

The Knicks won two of three games against the Spurs during the season, including a 124-113 victory in the NBA Cup final on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. It would also be a rematch of the Knicks' last NBA Finals appearance in 1999, which San Antonio won in five games.

As for Oklahoma City, the defending NBA champs took both meetings during the regular season.

New York goes into the finals on an 11-game winning streak, tied for the third-longest in a postseason run. All but one of the Knicks’ wins during the streak have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 23.7 points.

Mike Brown, the 15th coach since 1976 to take a team to the finals in his first year with a team, had faith when he took the job last summer that the Knicks could make a run.

“I truly felt that this team was an NBA Finals team. I felt we legitimately had a chance if we could help them figure it out and the players can stay together during the process, especially when we hit adversity, because we hit it at different times during the season,” Brown said.

Which is why Dolan's proclamation of “winning the finals, we should win” is very possible.

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New York Knicks center Ariel Hukporti dunks during the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown is interview after winning Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Tim Phillis)

The New York Knicks hold the Eastern Conference Championship trophy after Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Tim Phillis)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two planes carrying 19 Australian women and children linked to the Islamic State group landed in Melbourne and Sydney on Tuesday, despite Australia's government warning that the returnees could face charges.

The government earlier confirmed seven women and 12 children were heading home on Qatar Airways flights, less than three weeks after a group of 13 people in similar situations returned to Australia’s two largest cities.

Two women with seven children flew to Melbourne. Four women with six children landed about an hour later in Sydney, news media reported.

It was no immediately apparent if any arrests were made at the airports.

Three of the four women on the earlier flights were charged with slavery and terrorism offenses and remain behind bars.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said anyone among the 19 on their way to Australia who has committed crimes "can expect to face the full force of the law.”

“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group,” Burke said in a statement.

“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” he added.

Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for their return since 2014 and have long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor them, Burke said.

“The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier old Parliament: “I have nothing but contempt for anyone who has any sympathy for ISIS,” referring to IS by an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

After the departure of the latest group, at least two Australians remain in Roj camp, a location in northeast Syria near the Iraq border where people linked to IS have been held since IS forces in the Middle East were defeated in 2019.

A mother who was prevented from returning to Australia in February by a temporary exclusion order did not not travel with the group.

The woman, who is aged around 29, had remained at Roj with her daughter who had been disabled by shrapnel wounds, The Australian newspaper reported.

She left her Sydney home at the age of 18 in 2015 to marry an IS fighter in Syria, the newspaper reported.

Their family has engaged a Sydney lawyer to challenge the order, which would bar the mother from Australia until February 2028.

Exclusion orders were created by laws introduced in 2019 to prevent defeated IS fighters from returning to Australia for up to two years.

The last Australian cohort returned from Syria on May 7, similarly without government help.

Kawsar Ahmed, also known Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested when they landed in Melbourne over allegations that their family had bought a female Yazidi slave.

Janai Safar, 32, was arrested at Sydney Airport when she arrived with her 9-year-old son on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and with entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have returned quietly without government assistance.

FILE - Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Lukas Coch/AAPImage via AP, File)

FILE - A group of supporters surround a woman and child with alleged ties to the Islamic State as they arrive at Melbourne international Airport, in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP, File)

FILE - A group of supporters surround a woman and child with alleged ties to the Islamic State as they arrive at Melbourne international Airport, in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP, File)