Recap: Cavs 86, Knicks 95 (or, Too Hot to Randle… Too Cold to Hold)

No, the Cavs aren’t Ghostbusters… nor were they in control last night, of the Knicks… and particularly Julius Deion Randle. But yes, that’s right, I’m quoting Bobby Brown lyrics from 1988 (Oh-we-oh…Y-Y-Ya know it).

Okay, we all knew this squad, though much improved from last year’s model through three games, wasn’t going to go 72-0. We also know that things usually, inevitably revert to the mean… so, the hot shooting we saw from the wine & gold in their previous games (51% overall, 43% from three) was due to fall back to earth a bit. Yet, the beyond the arc(tic) cold front that hit the Cavalier shooters overwhelmed their chances from the jump, then snowballed from there.

Quite plainly, the Cavs beat themselves with staggeringly poor shooting. They went 0-10 from downtown (6-25 overall) for the first quarter as they dug themselves a 14 point hole. They finished 7-32 (22%) from three, and made just 36.4% of their buckets for the duration. And, it’s not like the Knicks were imposing a ton of defensive will against the Cavs… many of these missed shots (the early threes in particular) were of the uncontested/wide open variety.

Meanwhile, Cleveland’s defense was actually the thing that kept them in the game until the final few minutes. As a team, they forced New York into 27 turnovers, swiped 13 steals and swatted 10 blocked shots (the majority of which came from Andre Drummond, Larry Nance, Jr. and JaVale McGee). They never got closer than seven points, but the game never got completely away from them either.

And, if there’s a silver lining to a clunker of a shooting night, it’s that the Cavs kept fighting and leaning on their defense to stay in the game… something that rarely occurred the last two seasons. As Colin Sexton said in the postgame presser… “I felt like if it was last year or the year before, and we (were) missing this many shots, that we probably would have lost by 20, 25, 30.”

The one Knick they couldn’t handle was Randle. The former Wildcat notched his first triple double in two years, with a 28 point, 12 rebound, 11 assist effort. Although, technically, he was just one turnover away from a less impressive quadruple double. Randle also was a perfect 4-4 from deep, highlighting the one other area of deficiency for the Cavalier defense on the evening. Though they held the Knicks to 43% shooting overall, they failed to close out on the perimeter, allowing New York’s league leading sharpshooters (46% from beyond the arc on the season) to hit 14-25 (56%) of their treys.

On the positive side, Andre Drummond was still in beast mode, double-doubling his way to 18 points, 17 boards, six blocks, and three steals. Foul trouble cost him the chance to make a bigger difference down the stretch, and he did turn the ball over a team high four times. He’s a legit All-Star candidate right now though, and the primary motor for this team. I still think he could use a better offensive plan at the rim, however, as he left three or four easy scoring opportunities out on the floor.

Larry Nance, Jr. filled in for the ailing Kevin Love (down 3-4 weeks with calf trouble), and moderately stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six boards, three dimes, four steals and two blocks. He forced more than a few of the Randle turnovers, but also didn’t have a ton of help guarding Julius. Also, his 1-6 showing from deep underscored the reason Cavs fans may wind up missing Love more than anticipated.

Sexland had a rocky night, though the stats weren’t abjectly terrible. Early on, both Sexton and Garland looked to pass and facilitate, but the abundance of wide open misses (especially on bread-and-butter corner three attempts) probably contributed to them each reverting to too much hero-ball mentality as the game wore on. Sexton in particular pounded the rock too aimlessly, while charging into double and triple teams to force the issue. Garland actually had a nice string of shooting in the third to help pull the Cavs back to within two, yet that was as close as they got. Combined, Sexland still racked up 37 points (albeit on 12-35 shooting, 4-12 from deep), with 10 assists between them. They had trouble though, stopping the Knicks shooters on the perimeter.

Cedi Osman made a really strong case in this game for why he should be coming off the bench instead of starting. This was an entirely forgettable night for the young Turk, as he couldn’t buy a bucket (2-12, 0-5 from three), had one rebound in 29 minutes, made some poor decisions with the ball and lost Reggie Bullock on several occasions, including a half court heave to close the first half. It was disappointing to see such a regression from Cedi after how good his shooting looked the first few games, so let’s hope this performance is more of the aberration and not the mean.

The bench was good and bad, with JaVale McGee bringing genuine energy and spark with his 11 points and nine boards (and second triple of the season!), and Dameyan Dotson chipping in a couple buckets and solid D. Though, Dante Exum also had a game to forget, as his shot was icy (0-5, 0-3 from downtown). Being without Isaac Okoro, Dylan Windler, Kevin Porter, Jr., Matthew Dellavedova and Love, certainly had an effect on the depth. Though, the Knicks were also missing key guys like Alec Burks, Dennis Smith, Jr., Immanuel Quickley, Austin Rivers and Obi Toppin.

While the Knicks are a team that the Cavs should be able to handle, all in all, it’s got to be a sign of progress to Coach Bickerstaff that his guys kept fighting on defense, even when their shots weren’t falling. It also probably warms his heart to see Sexland back out on the court post-game hoisting up shots…

The @cavs future is in good hands.

Collin Sexton and Darius Garland putting up shots after tonight's loss to the Knicks. pic.twitter.com/n5hKbDYsCI

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) December 30, 2020

Though, it never hurts to use some of the wise words of Bobby Brown in the locker room…

Now can’t you see that all we need to be a go-getter
Gotta make your own decisions, you gotta go for what ya know
It comes a time in our lives, you wanna be bigger
Gotta keep, keep on pushing, you gotta learn to take control, yeah

Now I find out that nothing is given
Don’t know where the cards may fall
All I know is that we’ve gotta get it
We’ve gotta make it on our own

Well I guess we’re gonna have to take control
(All on our own)
If it’s up to us, we’ve got to take it home
Gotta, gotta, take it home, gotta, gotta, gotta take it home

Well, except the Cavs aren’t home again until January 22… so, gotta, gotta, gotta take it on the road.

Until next time… GO CAVS!