Eastern Conference Finals: Knicks' Josh Hart scores 26 points in Game 2 win over Cavs

Even before player introductions began to count down at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, the crowd began a loud refrain of “Let’s go Knicks!” as if they hadn’t stopped shouting it since Game 1 ended two nights earlier.

But as they took the floor, the Knicks tried to push aside the thoughts of their historic comeback, aware that it was dangerous to dwell on the excitement and enthusiasm it created around the city. If they knew it, so did the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had spent the last 48 hours living down the collapse.

In Game 2, the Knicks turned to what has been a defining characteristic — the ability to win in all kinds of ways.

If Jalen Brunson delivered a throwback scoring effort Tuesday to save the day, the Knicks produced a balanced attack on Thursday in coasting to a two-games-to-none lead in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 109-93 win.

The fans who had been chanting early serenaded the team with “Knicks in four!” as the final seconds ticked off.

Brunson became a facilitator, handing out a playoff career-best 14 assists to go with 19 points. Josh Hart, who had shot 1-for-5 from three-point range in Game 1 with the Cavaliers daring him to shoot, sank five three-pointers and scored 26 points, a career playoff high.

Mikal Bridges scored 19 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds and OG Anunoby added 14 points.

This deep into the playoffs, with a clear advantage over the Cavaliers defenders chasing him, Brunson opted to draw them in and — rather than force things — found his teammates time after time.

He fed Hart — who had struggled early in this game and was contending with the Cavs’ strategy of leaving him open — and just about everyone else as Cleveland worked to slow him down.

“A great message,” Bridges said. “But it just shows that he plays the right way. If you’re not going to send the double-team, I think it’s advantage for him. And if you send the double-team, he’s going to read and react and find open guys.

“Play the right way. Ever since I’ve known him, he plays the right way. Just kudos to him and how he works and his understanding of the game. If you’re going to keep doubling off, he’s going to make you pay, and that’s what makes him great.”

“I mean, they’re presenting two to the ball,” Brunson said. “I was able to find my teammates. They were knocking shots down. Just trying to create an advantage by putting two on the ball, trusting them to having to make the play.

“I think it’s an advantage for us, learning how to play differently. There are going to be times where one game plan is going to be different than the next. Being able to learn on the fly and adjust on the fly is something that we need to continue to get better at, but I think we’ve been doing a great job with it. Have to continue to be open to figure out how we can win the next game.”

The versatility has forged the Knicks into a businesslike machine. They have won a franchise-record nine straight playoff games and head to Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday night two victories away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

“As an MVP candidate, Jalen Brunson’s job is to make the game easier for his teammates, and that’s what he did,” coach Mike Brown said. “If you don’t send a second guy at him, he has a pretty good chance of scoring. If you send the second guy at him, he’s going to make the game easier for his teammates and he’s going to find them. They just need to step up and make shots. It starts with Jalen as an MVP candidate, but also it ends with his teammates making shots.”

The Knicks knew that the Cavaliers would try to find a counter to the offensive work that had fueled the comeback from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1 — a steady diet of Brunson hunting James Harden and attacking him. He scored 15 points in that quarter to fuel the Knicks’ game-ending 44-11 run.

On the very first possession of the game, Brunson was freed up on an off-ball screen from Hart, taking a handoff at the top of the key and blowing past Harden for a floater in the lane to start the scoring.

Brunson would not score again in the first half as the Cavaliers tightened their defense on him, but he still finished the half with five assists, and by the time the game was over, two of the defenders tasked with trying to slow him — Donovan Mitchell (26 points) and Max Strus — had totaled 11 fouls.

“Obviously, he had a huge offensive game the last game, so we knew they were going to come in with a different game plan,” Hart said. “I just think it shows the confidence he has in us and the depth of the team we have. I don’t know how many points he scored, but we can win with him scoring 10, 11, 12 points but having 14 assists and getting guys involved.

“I think it shows the character of the team and the character of him. It shows we can win games in different ways.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.