Five things to know about the Cavaliers heading into Eastern Conference finals matchup with Knicks

With the Knicks and Cavaliers set to kick off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, here are five key things to know about fourth-seeded Cleveland.1.

The Cavaliers have lost each of their four previous postseason matchups against the Knicks (1978, 1995, 1996, 2023), winning just two of 14 games.The Knicks won the first two meetings between the teams this season, but the Cavs won the only matchup that included James Harden, 109-94, on Feb.

24 in Cleveland.2.Former Nets coach and Long Island native Kenny Atkinson is in his second season with Cleveland, which is making its first conference finals appearance since 2018.

Atkinson, 58, was named NBA Coach of the Year last season and won an NBA title as an assistant with the Warriors in 2022, alongside current Knicks coach Mike Brown.Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! 3.The Cavaliers have only three meaningful contributors (Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen) returning from their 2023 five-game, first-round series loss to the Knicks.

Cleveland was held to 94.2 points per game in that series — 18 fewer than it averaged during the season — as Mitchell shot 28.9 percent on 3-pointers, and both Mobley and Allen scored fewer than 10 points per game.The Knicks will also see familiar postseason foes in Cavs reserve Dennis Schröder — who shot 47.6 percent on 3-pointers in last year’s first-round matchup with the Pistons — and Max Strus, who averaged nearly 15 points while helping the Heat eliminate the Knicks in 2023.4.

James Harden is the fourth player in NBA history (Karl Malone, John Stockton, Tony Parker) to make the playoffs in each of his first 17 seasons.Harden’s 185 postseason games — with six teams — are the second mo...