Knicks will face Cavaliers in Eastern Conference finals heres how the two teams stack up

The Knicks’ extended break will soon finally be over.It’s back to game mode. There is no more sitting back and watching to learn who their opponent will be in the Eastern Conference finals.

It will be the Cavaliers, after their 125-94 Game 7 win over the Pistons in Detroit on Sunday. Game 1 is set for Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.For most of the regular season and entering the postseason, it seemed a given that the Knicks would have to go through the Celtics and Pistons in order to reach the finals.As it turns out, they won’t face either. Now with the matchup set, let’s break down the top storylines: The Knicks last played on May 10, which means they will have had a full week of rest before Sunday’s Game 1.

That was critical for OG Anunoby, who has been recovering from a right hamstring strain that kept him out of Games 3 and 4 of the second round. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, will have less than 48 hours in between Sunday’s win and Game 1.The two teams will be beginning the series on completely opposite ends of the rest spectrum. “It’s good to give your body some rest,” Miles McBride said after practice on Friday.

“Be able to sit back and watch your opponents beat each other up in a sense.”It has certainly been well-documented how, after trailing 2-1 in the first round against the Hawks, the Knicks changed their offense.They’ve implemented a system that has Karl-Anthony Towns — not Jalen Brunson — facilitate with the ball in his hands at the elbows, allowing the others, including Brunson, to cut and set screens for each other around him.  Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! But that was with Onyeka Okongwu, the shell of Joel Embiid and the past-his-prime Andre Drummond guarding Towns.T...