Four nights ago, in Cleveland, the Knicks beat the Cavaliers by 12 points thanks to dominant second and third quarters. Tonight, as we saluted our veterans, the two teams squared up once more, this time at Madison Square Garden. Yet again, our heroes dropped the first frame, but won the second, tied the third, and managed to tie the game midway through the fourth. The Cavs were determined not to let this one slip through their fingers, and with season-highs for two of ’em, James Harden (32 PTS, 9-14
FG) and Tyrese Proctor (15 PTS), they sealed the win in the final minutes, 115-107.
With his eleventh double-double, Karl-Anthony Towns (21 PTS, 11 RBS, 7-11 FG) tied Willis Reed for the longest double-double streak to start a Knicks season. They shot better from the floor and in the paint, but the guests attempted 14 more free throws. It didn’t help that New York surrendered 19 points off turnovers.
Last week, Peyton Watson (7 PTS) took most of Cleveland’s shots to start the game. This time, Kenny Atkinson’s club leveled its attack. Their defense hummed, too, with Evan Mobley (10 PTS, 5 RBS) and Watson swatting down shots, and Donovan Mitchell (23 PTS) and Harden picking pockets. Benchman Proctor led the team with eight points in the quarter, while Watson crashed the boards and spread out dimes. Jarrett Allen, who missed last week’s contest, cleared five early boards and finished with an 11-14 double-double.
Josh Hart (6 PTS, 26 MIN), back in the lineup after missing three games (ankle, illness), surely had nothing to do with the Knicks’ starters dragging their heels. Jalen Brunson (27 PTS, 12-23 FG) and OG Anunoby (14 PTS) were the only Knicks with points until Mohamed Diawara checked in midway through the frame and scored. Mitchell picked on the sophomore, dribbled around him, and burned him with a fadeaway.
The hometown club converted 25% of its first eight longball tries and attempted no free throws in the first frame. Strange but true. Towns, Brunson, and Shamet had the hot hands early, while Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Andre Drummond combined to shoot 0-for-6 in the first half. Bridges would usually defend Mitchell, but Brown assigned Shamet to him. You can feel the coach’s confidence waning, no?
The Ohio Players hit nine straight shots, led by as many as 12, and won the quarter, 33–23.
We weren’t sweating the first quarter. New York dropped the first period by one in their previous matchup. Tonight, they opened the second on a 9–1 run behind Towns, Shamet, and Tyler Kolek. The latter hit two buckets and was a team-high plus-eight as the good guys climbed back into the game. Towns was cooking, too, scoring 13 points in his first 13 minutes, grabbing seven boards, and stuffing Allen’s shot. Miles McBride hit three threes in under two minutes, including the one that erased the last of a 12-point deficit and knotted the game at 43.
Brunson splashed a go-ahead three, but Harden answered with two of his own, Mitchell hit his freebies, and Mobley dunked to push Cleveland’s lead back to six. Mike Brown tried to give Towns a breather and watched the Knicks’ progress evaporate without him. KAT jumped back in and dunked with authority.
During the period, Brunson reached 11,000 career points, 3,000 assists, and 1,000 three-pointers. He’s one of seven active players in that club, along with LeBron James, Harden, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Luka Dončić, and Trae Young. Congratulations, Cap!
At halftime, the guests were ahead 59–53. Harden led all scorers with 17 (5-of-7 FG), while KAT topped the Knicks with 15. Bizarrely, New York took a single free throw all half, and Cleveland’s seven extra points at the line more than covered the margin. Both teams made 22 field goals (52% for Cleveland, 51% for New York) and grabbed 17 boards apiece. Cleveland had a 26–20 edge in the paint, but New York shot 40% from three to the Cavs’ 37% and scored one more point from the field.
Cleveland opened the third on a 10–5 run, with threes from Watson, Mitchell, and Harden stretching the lead to 69–58. Spida missed his next two threes and picked up a charge. From there, the hosts got serious. Brunson scored five of his eight points in the stretch during an 11–0 run that tied the tilt at 69, while the visitors blanked on eight consecutive attempts. Towns helped fuel the run by setting up Brunson and Shamet for buckets and blocking Watson at the cup. Hart later found McBride for another tying three at 74. Cleveland closed the quarter on an 8–2 run to take an 82–76 advantage into Q4.
Rough stretch for Bridges. He sat at the eight-minute mark of the third and came back with under two minutes left in the quarter. Allen blocked him on a layup, then took the ball away. Somehow, New York had attempted just five free throws through 40 minutes, all by Towns. The Cavs had taken 19 by then, eight by Harden alone.
Deuce scored the first five points of the fourth to pull the Knicks within one, but Mitchell answered with two layups, the second an and-one, and Proctor capped a 7–0 Cleveland run. Spida had two turnovers that led to McBride baskets, but he also set up Maleek Thomas for two buckets. With Brunson on the bench, McBride and Kolek ran the backcourt. Kolek fed Shamet for a three and KAT for a dunk that cut the deficit to seven with 7:35 left. Anunoby went on a tear with two freebies, a longball, a steal, and a breakaway feed to Hart for a bunny. Tie score at 99 with 5:36 to go.
Out of a timeout, Harden, Mobley, and Brunson scored to make it 106–103 with 2:18 on the clock. The game was still within reach, but Drummond fouled Mitchell and Allen scored four straight points, capitalizing on Brunson’s long brick. The deficit reached five with a minute to go. Brunson missed on a contested drive, Watson blocked McBride from behind on the fast break, and Harden hit his free throws. Ball game.
Up Next
A Cup game in Indiana on Friday. Mo is tightening the bolts on his recap. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
