The Cavaliers (5-5) beat the Sixers at the Rocket Arena yesterday, so maybe you can blame their sulfurous, rotten-egg performance tonight on fatigue. In their first return to Ohio since sweeping the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks (5-4) picked up right where they left off. After piling on a 19-point lead in the third, our heroes let Donovan Mitchell (37 PTS, 13-22 FG) close the gap in the fourth, but he was outdueled yet again by Jalen Bruson (31 PTS, 12-25 FG), Karl-Anthony Towns (29 PTS, 13 RBS)
was too strong, and the Knicks closed the door, 109-97.
Not only did our heroes knock off a rival, they played lock-down defense again. We share RJParrot’s enthusiasm: “ANOTHER GAME HOLDING THE BAD GUYS UNDER 100.”
Evan Mobley went right at Karl-Anthony Towns, who recorded his first foul with less than thirty seconds gone. Savvy strategy, Kenny Atkinson, but it wouldn’t work tonight. After that foul, Towns did a good job of avoiding his second infraction for the rest of the half while still playing aggressively and collecting 18 points on 12 shots. He finished the game with two fouls. KAT’s not just hungry for that second ring; I think he’s gunning for MVP.
Josh Hart is still mending a sore ankle, so Landry Shamet started for him again. Shamet has proven to be an offensive weapon, but he attempted two shots in his 13 first-half minutes.
The Cavs had three rotation players on their injury report. With Jarrett Allen out, Meleek Thomas, the 34th pick in this year’s draft, made his second start. The 20-year-old neophyte (9 PTS, 3-10 FG, 24 MIN) drilled back-to-back bombs to give his squad a 16-14 lead with five minutes left. Mike Brown used a timeout to regroup his squad and sub in Mohamed Diawara (2 PTS, 3 RBS, +16, 14 MIN) and Andre Drummond (8 RBS, 14 MIN). Soon after, Dalton Knecht (5 MIN) made his second appearance for the Knicks—and blundered by fouling Mitchell for what became a four-point play.
OAKAAKUYOAK Mario Hezonja is back in the league! He played nine minutes off the bench in the first half for the Ohio Players, scoring zero on two shots. Starter Peyton Watson (who was rumored to have a sore hammy) took six of Cleveland’s first 13 shots, while Mobley had attempted none, Donovan Mitchell one, and James Harden two.
At the other end, Mike Brown was featuring Jalen Brunson and Towns. The latter made all four freebies at the line, while the former missed five of his first six shots. A slow start for Detective Madison, but stick around for sparks. Tyler Kolek also checked in to play alongside Knecht, Shamet, Anunoby, and Towns for the final two minutes. The Knicks were trailing by four, so the move was a vote of confidence by the coach.
With Towns and Anunoby smashing to the rim, the visitors were able to close the gap. The Knicks missed eight three-pointers in the opening frame, were outrebounded by three, and attempted half as many free throws as the Cavs, but nonetheless trailed by a single point at the break, 27-26. Math!
New York’s awful long-range shooting persisted as they missed their first eight attempts of the second quarter. Mikal Bridges (9 PTS, 4-13 FG), in particular, had another woeful offensive half (during which he shot 0-5 from deep), but he redeemed himself with a few fine defensive efforts. Loved when he made the Beard look silly on a drive.
The ink still wet on his contract, Riley Minix provided eight points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench tonight.
The scoreboard tilted back and forth. New York’s shooting improved. Thomas checked back in for the hosts, and he drilled his third triple in Diawara’s grill. The sophomore was +12 in the half, though, thanks to sharing the floor with Brunson, Jordan Clarkson, Bridges, and Drummond. Cap was cooking. He scored 18 straight Knicks points, outscoring the Cavs by seven himself and giving New York a 52–47 lead.
From there, McBride canned a jumper, Shamet drilled a dinger, and Anunoby hit consecutive triples to give the good guys a 63-53 advantage.
Through the half, both teams shot 44%, but the Knicks got 13 more shots, thanks to ten offensive boards. They also committed just three turnovers to the Cavs’ eight and won the points-off-turnovers battle 12-2. The home team shot 46% from deep to New York’s 32% and still trailed. Brunson topped the box score with 20 so far, while Spida led the Cavs with 11.
Cleveland opened the third with four straight points, both baskets set up by Donovan Mitchell, to cut the Knicks’ lead to 63–57. Jalen Brunson then found Mikal Bridges for a three, bringing him to 9-34 from deep this season. Karl-Anthony Towns cut for a layup to stretch the lead back to 12.
Evan Mobley kept Cleveland close with six points in the opening five minutes, including back-to-back buckets off James Harden feeds. Tyrese Proctor’s step-back three made it 72–65 after a Knicks possession that produced three misses, three offensive rebounds, and a shot-clock violation.
Brunson took over from there. He scored six straight on a floater, a running layup, and a fadeaway, then found Landry Shamet for a three to cap a 9–0 run. Mitchell broke it with a layup, but Brunson fed Mohamed Diawara for one of his own, sending Cleveland to timeout down 83–67. Very encouraging signs from Mo!
Towns chipped in four points, including a putback after Peyton Watson blocked his dunk attempt. OG Anunoby (15 PTS, 4-13 FG) had a block and two boards but missed all four of his shots and scored only at the line. Harden’s two assists to Mobley helped briefly, but he went scoreless in the stretch. When Shamet swished his third triple of the night, New York’s advantage was 19.
With the Knicks playing clean defense and the Cavs running on fumes, a 25-17 third quarter gave our heroes an 88-70 lead heading into the fourth.
The road got bumpy at the outset of the final frame. Kolek acquired his fourth foul; Shamet, Towns, and Anunoby missed multiple shots; and Mitchell and Mobley paired for eight points. Kolek’s been a reliable floor general to head the second unit, but his shooting this season stands at 5-of-19 after tonight’s 0-for-2. Seeing the need for heroics, Towns supplied them while Brunson sat. Smashing the boards and exploiting the false wall of Cleveland’s frontcourt, he reached 29 points, logged his ninth double-double of the season, and scored five straight to restore a 15-point lead.
KAT sat at the middle mark. From there Cap and Spida traded blows. The latter scored Cleveland’s next eight points, and with the score at 102-92, Mike Brown signaled for timeout with 3:15 remaining. Not ready to release his guys yet, Atkinson called for a timeout, too. Time for another Novig commercial.
Out of the break, Brunson and Mitchell traded contested jumpers. KAT was back, but Mobley boxed him out on a Brunson miss. Watson somehow corraled a slippery ball for a layup. Eight-point lead with 1:53 left.
The struggling Bridges came up with a clutch bucket. Shamet fouled Spida, who made one, missed one. Shamet missed from deep, but this time KAT got the board and pitched it to Cap, who was fouled. Just like Donovan, Jalen missed his first freebie. Mitchell tried a rushed trey with Shamet covering, which rimmed out. Anunoby grabbed the board; Spida swatted it out of bounds and got Kenny to contest it. Not only was the call confirmed, but a foul on the Cav was added to it. Insult to injury, you say? Indeed. Sweet victory!
Up Next
Our heroes get two nights off before hosting the Bucks on Tuesday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
