Thirty years ago, the Knicks knocked the Cavaliers out of the playoffs for the second straight year, a quiet little dynasty over Cleveland that never translated into the only thing that mattered. The 4-seed Knicks and 5-seed Cavaliers entered the 1996 first round with identical 47-35 records, but the series wasn’t close. New York rolled into Cleveland and stole both road games to open the best-of-five: a 106-83 demolition in Game 1, then an 84-80 grind in Game 2. Back at Madison Square Garden for Game 3, the Knicks closed it out 81-76 to complete a 3-0 sweep. Three years, three series, three Knicks wins. Patrick Ewing’s Knicks had Cleveland’s number and a blueprint that worked on most of the East. But the next round was always the wall. In 1996, that wall was the 72-10 Bulls, who bounced them in five. The Knicks of that era reached one Finals (1994), came painfully close to another (1995, before falling to Indiana), and never lifted the trophy. A team good enough to dominate a rivalry, not good enough to escape Jordan’s shadow. The two teams wouldn’t meet again in the playoffs until 2023, when the Knicks took the first-round series 4-1. Four playoff matchups, but the Cavs have never beaten the Knicks in a postseason series. Tonight, the rematch finally carries Finals stakes. The Garden’s mid-90s reign was an Eastern dynasty that wasn’t. In the words of Hanif Abdurraqib, “There’s Always This Year”.