Recaps: 2023 NBA Playoffs Games 1 & 2, Knicks vs. Cavs (or, Shame and Iteration)

Someone recently asked the CtB staff if we were “ashamed of ourselves.” I assumed this person was referring to the amount of work we’ve not been publishing this season. I’ll be the first to admit we’ve fallen down this year. But am I ashamed? No. I’ve been prioritizing my paying job, my family, and my mental health, not necessarily in that order, and it hasn’t left much time or energy to write lately. It’s a shame (there’s that word again – it’s a reflex!), because you all have stuck with us, and for that I’m quite grateful. Chris Francis has been our Tristan Thompson circa 2012-2017 (the ironman years) since he joined the staff, and even he’s had to pull back too this season due to life changes.

I guess this is a long way to say sorry for not being as on the ball as we were in our earlier years when it comes to timely content and recaps. But are we ashamed? No way. Life happens, and this still remains an uncorrupted beach community. If you’d like to help contribute to the effort beyond the commentariat, please let me know. We could use the help, but despite iterating the who, we’re never go to change what this place is.

Which brings me to the Cavs, who succumbed to a lot of the game 1 malaise that had been going around the NBA for the likes of the Bucks and maybe even the Grizzlies. I won’t go back to game 1, except to say the Cavs got their butts handed to them when it comes to effort and execution and still only lost by four. But give credit where it’s due, John Blair Bickerstaff didn’t waste time with shame and quickly made changes: and ejecting Rubio, Wade, and even Okoro from the rotation and shortening it up to Cedi, Caris, and Danny Green.

Okoro got a start in game 2 and then picked up two quick fouls and never saw the court again. JB instead inserted Cedi Osman and relied on a trio of Cedi, Caris, and Danny Green to carry the load on the way to a dismantling of the Knicks who trailed by as much as 29 in the mid fourth quarter. After a see-saw first quarter, the Cavs pushed out to a dozen point lead by the mid-second and never looked back. The Knicks briefly ate into the Cavs’ lead, cutting it to 16 in the third quarter, but Cleveland thoroughly outplayed them. After losing the rebound battle in Game 1, 51-38 , they won Game 2, 43-36 and held the Knicks to just 37% from the floor. Jalen Brunson was bullied into 5-17 and R.J. Barrett was a comical 4-13 (shhhh! don’t tell anyone!)

Jarrett Allen looked like a new and improved block machine, and though Mobley struggled mightily against MitchRob early, a wide open dunk got him rolling and Evan finished 6-11.

Darius the great shook off the Game 1 jitters, and played like an all-star again. Mitchell initiated a ton of offense, which put Garland off the ball, suiting his shooting to perfection: 32 points, 6-10 from deep, +29, and 10/11 at the line. He even tried a dunk on Isaiah Hartenstein (which should have resulted in a goaltend). Defensively Garland was a pest, and routinely was a part of the Cavs’ defensive strategy: harass Jalen Brunson with traps and double teams and force anyone else to beat them. Mitchell as the set-up man, dropped a playoff career high 13 dimes to go with his 17 points. If Mitchell and the Cavs’ can whoop up on teams when they overplay him, they’re going to be very hard to beat.

Caris started the second half on his way to probably his best game as a Cavalier (especially given the stakes) 23/4/3 with just two turnovers and 4-9 from deep (love the volume shooting), and +23, contributing to all the great D on everyone. The “Caris LeVert agenda” and chants of LCC (“Let Caris Cook!”) rang throughout the live thread. I’ll leave it to Ben Werth to break down the rest of this game, Caris, Okoro (is he done for the playoffs?), and the future.

Ben Werth

You can’t count on LeVert to consistently do anything, so I would still start Okoro or Cedi and go from there. 

The guys clearly love LeVert and have some real connection with him so if his play is more than just maddening at times but actually a morale unifier then ok I guess. When he makes those garbage pullups, he looks awesome. He usually doesn’t. 

If the Knicks go small, the Cavs should roll them. None of their guys is so good off the bounce that they can make the Cavs pay for straying with their normal Tower City look. 

If I’m Thibs, I do whatever I can to make LeVert beat me with midrange Js. I try to bait him at every turn. 

Okoro started the game with a good mindset and honestly, with the way Garland was playing on both sides of the ball, it didn’t really matter who was getting most of those minutes at the three. That Caris made his shots was icing. DG was having FUN. It took him all of one game to get his playoff mojo.  It will be harder for him in NYC, and Mitchell is likely to want to slip into hero ball to prove himself in MSG, but if the Knicks are dumb enough to go small, look for Mobley to have a huge scoring game. Robinson has been the Knicks most impactful player and if they punt on him for some more offense, it will likely backfire. 

Play Robinson and neuter your offense or sit him and kill your D? Obviously it helped that the Cavs made threes, but the bigger issue was that their D was predatory.

Mobley needs to short roll to shoot a few more times in the beginning of the game. Robinson is playing him for the pass. 

Cavs should win in 6 if they just keep playing smart and hard on the defensive end of the floor. The Knicks Iso and rebound. Blitzing the PnR makes that first part very uncomfortable for them. 

Play Robinson and neuter your offense or sit him and kill your D. Obviously it helped that the Cavs made threes, but the bigger issue was that their D was predatory.

Mobley needs to short roll to shoot a few more times in the beginning of the game. Robinson is playing him for the pass.

Cavs should win in 6 if they just keep playing smart and hard on the defensive end of the floor. The Knicks Iso and rebound. Blitzing the PnR makes that first part very uncomfortable for them. 

Honestly, the Cavs are far better as long as they stay focused and play the bully like they did in the second game. That was the toughest ball I’ve seen out of them yet. They played soft, missed foul shots, and were sloppy in their boxouts in Game 1, and still only lost by four. Game 2: great effort by all the guys. 

My Response

Playing five guys who can shoot and defend with Mobley and Allen… who knew? Can’t believe it took 83 games to figure out Stevens stinks. I feel like the front office sat JB down and told him to stop playing guys who aren’t good at NBA ball.

Cedi didn’t shoot well (1-7 from deep) but just having him out there opened up the floor. And DG playing well off the ball was a godsend. The Cavs actually left a lot of points out there with Green being ignored by his teammates and the Knicks as well as Cedi and Mobley missing a ton.

Also, Caris was the best version of himself and RJ Barrett might be the Cavs MVP. No one tell the Knicks.

Rumbling is that the Knicks are going to go super small next game, and Derrick Rose may even play. Would not be surprised to see Randle at the 5 a lot. Cavs gotta just trust their back line to handle two on one situations after Brunson passes out of trap.

I wish the Cavs had Diakite to provide emergency center minutes, but the Cavs could conceivably play Stevens or (gulp) Wade there against a very small Knicks lineup if there’s foul trouble.

Cavs play with that energy they’ll be fine. The other reason the Knicks might go small is to wear out the Cavs seven man rotation and hunt fouls so the Cavs are forced to play their scrubs.

This exchange led to a long back and forth with Eli and Chris on whether Caris or Okoro should start game two. I fell on the side of Okoro just to soak up the cheap foul calls the Knicks are going to get at the beginning of that game, and to save Caris for crunch time. But I’m definitely lamenting the fact that the Cavs spent the season “developing” Okoro, Wade, and Steven. In the words of Eli Kim, “JB Started Lamar 25 games in the regular season… for what?” I still have hope for Okoro given that he’s just 22, but given Stevens’ and Wade’s ages of 26, it’s hard to think there’s much more upward trajectory on that development curve. But you can’t wallow in the shame of something not working. All you can do is try something new and move forward.

But lots can happen in the playoffs and a 7-man rotation is tough to play for an extended period. It sure seems like the Cavs’ are getting extended rest between games, so maybe it’s sustainable. Diakite being off the playoff roster seems like a total miss just in terms of foul trouble or injury, but you can’t put crap back in a donkey. All you can do is iterate that crap into the next batch of alfalfa.

If the Knicks go small, it’s all about having more offense on the floor when the Cavs take the ball out of Brunson’s hands (Harty stunk). The Cavs should play at a snail’s pace if that’s the case, but Mobley is so turnover prone that is hard to do. That’s why, to Ben’s point, Evan should be thinking score first, especially when the Knicks go smaller. Eli Kim: “He and Allen gotta eat.”

So who do the Cavs put in that eighth spot? Okoro? I’d give Neto 10 minutes on Brunson full court just to change it up and give guys a blow (and don’t be surprised to Brunson off the ball more too). Do Wade and Rubio deserve second chances? I’m not sure I trust Wade on the road, but I feel like Ricky has some confidence in the Garden after his big game last year.

We’ll see what happens in the big Apple Friday night. Go Cavs!