NEW YORK — The Cleveland Cavaliers' backs are officialy against the wall as they fell once again in Madison Square Garden to the New York Knicks 102-93.
The young Cavs squad facing the prospects of going down 3-1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs were not able to overcome a sloppy first half, poor defensive rebounding (again) and the surprisingly average play of star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell.
For the majority of the first half, it was like watching a replay of game 1 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Knicks moved with purpose and a sense of urgency, something even a former Cav and NBA Champion Channing Frye noted on Twitter in the second quarter.
New York went into halftime with, somehow, only a nine point lead. A nine point lead that felt like a 29 point lead at times given the extra possessions the Knicks created by out-hustling and rebounding Cleveland.
Darius Garland provided a spark to the Cavalier offense in the third quarter scoring 11 points while dishing out five assists. The Cavs were able to take the lead towards the end of the third quarter, but that was the best they were able to muster as the Knicks took control in the 4th quarter behind a raucous MSG crowd.
Once again, offensive rebounding doomed the Cavalier squad as the Knicks collected 17 (!) to Cleveland's 7. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley once again struggled under the basket grabbing a paltry 11 rebounds combined. To put that in perspective, the Cavs bigs only had two more rebounds total than Caris LeVert who finished with nine total rebounds.
Not a recipe for success.
To make matters worse for the Cavs, star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell struggled to get anything going offensively all afternoon. Mitchell finished 5-18 from the field (0-4 from beyond the arc) scoring 11 points.
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and RJ Barrett shined for the Knicks scoring 29, 19 and 26 respectively. Hart was the emotional leader for New York today starting in place of an injured Quentin Grimes. Hart's grit and hustle (2 steals) lead to extra possessions.
The Cavaliers will head back to Northeast Ohio in a major hole with zero margin for error and in need of a little more 3-1 magic.
Should the Knicks send the Cavs home on their home court in game 5, plenty of questions about the roster construction will loom as they look to build on their first playoff appearance post-LeBron James.