Knicks offseason set the tone for pivotal game 4 win over Cavaliers in

The Knicks are one win away from doing something that’s only happened once since 2000: win a playoff series.

There are many reasons they got to this point. You can go all the way back to Tom Thibodeau’s decision to cut his rotation to nine players in early December.

Or you can go back further: Sunday’s win, in a way, was a validation of the decisions made by the Knicks front office over the past 10 months.

Jalen Brunson, their big free agent signee, had a game-high 29 points, six rebounds and six assists. His shot-making in the second half kept the Knicks out of trouble. He delivered in a way that Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell couldn’t.

The Knicks defense held Mitchell to 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting. He had six turnovers. Credit the team for slowing Mitchell down; also credit his primary defender. Josh Hart slowed Mitchell down enough to keep the Cavs from making a run in the fourth quarter.

Hart, acquired by the Knicks in a trade deadline deal for Cam Reddish and a 2023 first-round pick, has been the glue to this team for the past two months. New York is 20-7 with Hart in the lineup (disregarding two losses at the end of the season when the Knicks had nothing to play for).

Sunday was no different. He defended Mitchell and chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds.

RJ Barrett had another strong game, scoring 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Barrett got to the line 13 times and scored 10 points in a fourth quarter that Cleveland entered trailing by just two.

Barrett, of course, signed an extension with the Knicks in the offseason. That extension was a roadblock in the Knicks’ pursuit of Mitchell. The Knicks offered Utah strong packages that both included and didn’t include Barrett. In the end, Barrett remained a Knick and Mitchell ended up in Cleveland.

If the Knicks can win one of their next three games, their decisions around the Mitchell deal will be validated.

Utah at one point sought Mitchell Robinson in trade talks. Instead of sending Robinson to Utah,…