Recap: New York 130, Cleveland 116 (or, Never go Full Thibs)

Hello from the great plains, Cavs fans. I’m traveling with my daughters on a spring break road trip across Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. On Friday, I was dodging storms on my way into Liberty, MO, and I made it to a sports bar just in time to cue the Cavs on my phone. The first quarter against the Knicks was full of high level shotmaking that made us “ooh” and “ah.” Spida Mitchell exploded for 23 first  quarter points on just 10 shots. While Jalen Brunson scored 21. The two squads combined for 89 first quarter points, with the Cavs shooting 74% and the Knicks 64%.

While the defense was lax, the shotmaking was next level. The quarter ended with Cleveland up 47-42, but the Cavs’ inability to build much of a lead despite a team record for points in a quarter was the first bad omen this game. Lamar Stevens’ problematic game was the other bad omen, as he was -5 in just 3 minutes, and seemed completely unable to stop Brunson on the outside, nor rebound in the paint.

The cracks expanded in the second quarter when New York posted a 14-5 rebound advantage, with six offensive rebounds, while no Cavalier grabbed more than one. The Cavs inability to box out, and relative lack of size, bulk, and hustle doomed them against the likes of Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and Isaiah Hartenstein who just kept outfighting and out-muscling them for loose balls.

Meanwhile, Cleveland cooled off to just 44% from the field while the Knicks were putting up 63%. It was an especially anemic first half for Evan Mobley, who grabbed just two boards and scored seven points in 20 minutes. Part of the issue was the lack of containment of the Knicks’ perimeter players as Emmanuel Quickley joined Brunson in roasting the Cavs’ defense forcing defensive help and a scrambling defense that was unable to rebound. Cleveland also let the Knicks scorch the Nets with a dozen first half triples. For Cleveland, only Mitchell, Osman, and Garland were much of an offensive threat, and the Knicks were pulling away 79-72.

The third quarter saw Donovan Mitchell continue to desperately try to keep the Cavs’ hopes alive as he dropped another 12 on just seven shots. But the Cavs’ rebounding woes continued. Mitchell Robinson grabbed another five offensive rebounds in the quarter, mitigating Cleveland’s D, that held NY to 36% from the field. Cavs finished the third down down 105-102.

The dam broke in the fourth. Ricky Rubio was glued to the pine after looking geriatric in the first half. Raul Neto, despite trying to hound Brunson, couldn’t produc much offense, and Donovan Mitchell hit the wall, playing 12 minutes (and the entire second half). Spida had just four in the fourth, and his lack of rest would’ve seemed especially ill conceived, but Garland went 0-4 and pitched a scoreless final frame.

Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson wore Cleveland defenders like a cape, scoring eight of his career high 48 on the way to the Knicks’ 25 fourth quarter points, to the Cavs’ 14. Most Galling, besides JB running his best guards into the ground, was Cedi and Dean Wade being glued to the bench down the stretch when Cleveland needed points, and Llama Stevens clanking shots and turning it over while playing matador defense on Brunson.

The Cavs were down just seven after a Mobley dunk from Caris with just three minutes left, but Jalen Brunson put New York his back, dusted Stevens, then Llama got stripped like the scrub he is on a layup. Jalen buried Cleveland with a triple to put the Knicks up a dozen with two minutes left. JB refused to raise the white flag and left the starters for garbage time.

I can’t blame the players here. The Cavs have a rebounding problem, and Kevin Love leads Miami in offensive rating. The Cavs unwillingness to address the backup center position, and alienating their third big for no good reason (and then not playing Wade) seems like GM malpractice. Meanwhile, Thibs played his best player seven minutes of the fourth while JB burned his guys out. You gotta work pretty hard to out-Thib Thibs, but JB did it.