FOUR STRAIGHT: RIOTS FINISH KNICKS 75-68, WIN SERIES 4-2

For two games, Newark could not get out of its own way.

For the next four, the Knicks could not stop them.

The Newark Riots finished the job in Game 6, beating the New York Knicks 75-68 in Newark and closing the first-round series 4-2. What began as another familiar Newark playoff problem ended as one of the sharpest reversals of the BDA postseason.

Down 0-2 after losing the first two games by two points each, the Riots never lost again.

Newark set the tone immediately in the clincher. The Riots won the first quarter 23-12, built an early cushion and made New York spend the rest of the night trying to pull the game back into reach. The Knicks did make a late push, but Newark answered enough of it to close the series without giving the top seed the Game 7 it wanted.

The final box score looked like the version of Newark that had emerged over the previous three games: pressure, depth, interior force and enough discipline to keep the Knicks from controlling the possession battle.

Newark shot 50.8 percent from the field and went 9-for-10 at the free-throw line. New York reached the stripe only twice and made one. The Riots won the bench battle 47-33, the paint 44-38 and second-chance points 7-0. Newark also finished with 13 steals and forced 15 New York turnovers.

Dwight Howard earned Player of the Game with 15 points, seven rebounds and 7-for-8 shooting. He was the most reliable interior finisher on the floor and gave Newark the kind of efficient production that prevented New York from turning its late run into a full comeback.

Michael Ray Richardson earned the defensive game ball. Crack scored 10 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, added four steals and kept attacking the game from both ends. After five steals in Game 5, Richardson closed the series with another disruptive performance and made the Knicks work just to get into offense.

Bobby Portis Jr. added 10 points and four rebounds without a turnover. Jaylen Brown scored eight. Damian Lillard gave Newark seven points on only three shots. Kyrie Irving finished with six assists. The clincher did not require one star to overwhelm New York because Newark kept finding useful production across the rotation.

Josh Hart scored only two points in Game 6, but the box score did not erase what he had already done to the series. Hart finished with four rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers in the clincher and was later named QF4 Series MVP. His Game 3 shot and the energy around it had become the turning point of the matchup; by Game 6, the rest of the roster had carried that change all the way to elimination night.

Carmelo Anthony led New York with 15 points and five rebounds. Deni Avdija scored 11. Cade Cunningham added 10 points and six assists. But Nikola Jokic was held to five points, and the Knicks never found enough sustained offense to erase the hole Newark created in the first quarter.

The result was bigger than one game.

New York entered the postseason as Oliver’s top seed after an 11-5 regular season. Newark entered at 7-9, carrying a negative point differential and the weight of a season full of inconsistency. The Knicks won Game 1 and Game 2 and looked ready to confirm the seeding.

Instead, Newark won Game 3 on Josh Hart’s shot after erasing 21. Game 4 tied the series. Game 5 flipped home court and gave the Riots the lead. Game 6 ended it.

Four straight.

The Knicks were out.

The Riots were moving on.