Patrick Ewing gives Knicks advice for Eastern Conference Finals matchup with Cavaliers

Before current members of the New York Knicks learned that they would be facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, Knicks legend and Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing spoke with Steve Serby of the New York Post about the Knicks' ongoing postseason run. 

During the conversation, Ewing was asked what he would say if he were given an opportunity to address the Knicks ahead of the matchup versus the Cavaliers. 

Patrick Ewing: Knicks need to "take advantage" of championship opportunity

"What I would tell them is they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Ewing explained. "No one knows if it’s going to come back around. When we got there in ’94, I definitely thought that we were going to have another opportunity in ’95 — take advantage of this opportunity."

Ewing and his Knicks teammates played in the 1994 NBA Finals versus the Houston Rockets. The Knicks squandered a 3-2 series lead and ultimately fell to Houston in Game 7 that year.

The Knicks haven't won an NBA title since 1973.

"Continue to do the things that they’ve been doing," Ewing continued. "Continue to play as a team. The five guys on the floor got to do their part. The bench has to do their part. So remember that it’s about team. This is not tennis with one person against another person. All five have to be locked in, be unselfish, be selfish when you need to be selfish, and just play a team game."

Patrick Ewing discusses what OG Anunoby offers the Knicks

Knicks forward OG Anunoby hasn't played since he suffered a right hamstring strain on May 6. That said, it appears he will be good to go for New York's Game 1 showdown versus Cleveland on Tuesday night. 

Anunoby is the Knicks' second-leading scorer during the playoffs with an average of 21.4 points per game. 

"To me, the last two series, he’s been our best player," Ewing said about Anunoby. "He’s been scoring, he’s been playing great defense. …I think all of them, you look at the team as a whole, it’s been all of them, all of those guys have been doing their part to help the team to get to where it’s gotten to. You can’t just say it’s [Jalen Brunson] or it’s [Karl-Anthony Towns] or it’s OG, I think that everybody has been doing their part — the whole entire team. When guys have had the opportunity to come in off the bench, they’ve been doing their part." 

As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Knicks as -265 betting favorites to defeat the Cavaliers and advance to the NBA Finals.