The Eastern Conference finals begin tonight with the Knicks hosting the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden for Game 1 of the series that will determine which team represents the East in the NBA Finals.After Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night delivered an all-timer, the Knicks and Cavs have a whole lot to live up to, but between the Garden, Jalen Brunson and James Harden, they have the stage and the stars to put on a special show.We’ll be tracking the night’s action as it happens below.How we got here...Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell reacts during the second half against the Pistons. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn ImagesThe Knicks and Cavaliers have taken wildly different paths to reach the Eastern Conference finals.New York has not played a competitive game of basketball in more than a week, having swept the 76ers in the second round of the playoffs. While they needed six games to dispatch the Hawks in the first round, that number isn’t indicative of just how dominant the Knicks have been recently—since going down 2–1 to Atlanta, they have won seven straight games, six of which came by double digits.The Knicks enter the conference finals extremely well rested, and hungry to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have had to scrap and claw their way through two seven-game series to open the postseason, with the Raptors and Pistons both forcing decisive Game 7s in the first and second round respectively. Cleveland has won both of those do-or-die games by a combined 43 points, with Donovan Mitchell showing up when his team needed him most against the Pistons.The Cavaliers are more battle tested so far this postseason, but they are also just two days removed from their most recent Game 7 win against Detroit, while the Knicks have been resting for more than a week. Cleveland will be fighting an uphill battle against both a tough Knicks squad and its own endurance at the Garden on Tuesday.More NBA Playoffs From Sports IllustratedAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow