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Riding New York’s historic heater: Bet Knicks moneyline, two player props at the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4
It’s a matter of “when,” not “if” the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season ends. They are down 3-0 in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals and trying to stave off elimination in front of their home fans Monday vs. the New York Knicks.
New York has been crushing teams in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The Knicks have won 10 straight games and have the best point differential (+225) over a 10-game span in regular-season and postseason history.
Somehow, Cleveland took money in the betting market before Games 2 and 3. Despite blowing Game 1, the Cavs closed as +6 underdogs in Game 2 after opening at +5.5. Then, they opened as -2.5 favorites for Game 3 at home and closed at -3.5.
Well, it seems the market has given up on the Cavaliers, as they are consensus +2.5 underdogs with their backs against the wall in Game 4. Will Cleveland live to fight another day, or does NYK clinch an NBA Finals berth Monday?
Let’s discuss.
I’m done beating around the bush; the Knicks are sweeping the Cavaliers. Did you see the final minutes of Game 3? The Cavs pretty much tapped out. They are cooked, regardless of what garbage head coach Kenny Atkinson spews about “shot quality”.
As I wrote in my Eastern Conference Finals preview, Cleveland has no answer for Jalen Brunson. The Cavaliers need Donovan Mitchell and James Harden playing well to win this series, and Brunson can hunt one of them on defense.
Meanwhile, New York has elite perimeter defenders, such as Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart to guard Mitchell and Harden.
That said, since I’m so convinced NYK closes the Cavs out Monday and don’t want to fuss with the spread, I’m taking the KNICKS MONEYLINE (-140) for Game 4.
I gave out New York -1.5 series spread pre-series, so I’m betting with “house money” because there is less than a 1% chance Cleveland gets this to a Game 7. Bridges was rightfully dogged for no-showing in Games 1-5 vs. the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, but he has balled since.
From Game 6 of the Atlanta series to Game 3 of the conference finals, Bridges is averaging 19.1 points on 69.1% shooting. He has scored 18+ points in every game this series on 75.9% true shooting (.711/.500/1.000).
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Also, Harden and Mitchell, who are defensive liabilities, spent the most time defending Bridges in Game 3, and he destroyed them. Bridges went 7-for-8 with Harden and Mitchell defending him.
Allen seems to be the only Cavalier to have any heart. He’s scored 13+ points in Games 2 and 3 and has a team-best 137 offensive rating in the conference finals. Plus, Harden would rather pass than shoot, and Allen could catch a few alley-oops.
Finally, Allen has the second-highest offensive rebounding rate in this series and can get some easy putbacks if the Knicks are chasing Cleveland’s shooters off the 3-point line.
Prediction: Knicks 114, Cavaliers 101.
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Follow me on X @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants.
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Pope Leo XIV Issues Sweeping Teaching On Upholding Human Worth In A World Embracing Artificial Intelligence
President Masoud Pezeshkian invoked one of Iran’s strongest wartime symbols on May 24, signaling Tehran’s resolve to hold its ground against the U.S. and Israel across the region, a counterterrorism expert said.
The Iranian leader’s remarks came at a key moment in diplomacy, as President Donald Trump said a deal with Tehran to end the war is “largely negotiated” and warned the U.S. would either sign “a great and meaningful” agreement or walk away entirely.
While Iran signaled broad agreement with Washington on some points, it said a final deal is not imminent and that negotiations over the remaining details are still underway.
IRAN’S TOP DIPLOMAT SAYS NATION’S POWER LIES IN DEFYING PRESSURE: ‘NO TO THE GREAT POWERS’
In an X post marking the anniversary of the 1982 recapture of Khorramshahr from Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War, Pezeshkian said, “Khorramshahr today is Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that “resistance, self-sacrifice, and repelling aggression are rooted in the culture of this land.”
Analysts claimed Pezeshkian was deliberately invoking one of the deepest ideological touchstones of the Islamic Republic — the battle that came to symbolize national resistance, civilian sacrifice and defiance against invasion.
“This is the Iran-Iraq War reference, and the timing is the point,” said Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
May 24 marks the anniversary of the 1982 liberation of Khorramshahr, the southwestern city Saddam Hussein captured early in the war and Iranian forces retook after months of brutal urban combat.
FROM HOSTAGE CRISIS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS: IRAN’S NEAR HALF-CENTURY WAR ON AMERICANS
“This is one of the Islamic Republic’s foundational mythological moments — civilian resistance, mass sacrifice, repelling an ‘aggressor army.’ Roughly what the Great Patriotic War is to Russia. The rhetorical move is the extension,” Mohammed told Fox News Digital.
“He’s mapping the 1980-82 defensive-war frame onto the current confrontation: Iran attacked by an aggressor, ordinary citizens (‘battle-untested but brave’) expected to stand and fight, with ‘resistance, sacrifice, repelling aggression’ cast as the cultural default mode.”
Some of the phrasing, Mohammed said, also evokes volunteer and Basij fighters versus a professional invading army. The analyst noted that Pezeshkian’s “Hormuz line” comment reflects a standard Iranian escalation tactic.
IRAN TO HOLD LIVE-FIRE DRILLS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ WITH US ARMADA IN MIDDLE EAST
“Invoking the strait inside a wartime-mobilization frame — even rhetorically — is a deliberate signal, not throat-clearing,” he added.
“The Khorramshahr frame is the deepest register the regime has. It’s what they reach for to signal existential war, not a managed crisis.”
Mohammed explained that Pezeshkian’s X post is framing the current confrontation from the presidential account to send a “high-stakes message.”
“It’s also a tell on internal posture: Khorramshahr, in short, means ‘we are being invaded and we will not negotiate,’” he added.
Pope Leo XIV Issues Sweeping Teaching On Upholding Human Worth In A World Embracing Artificial Intelligence
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