Knicks outplayed in second half of another lopsided loss to Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro dunks in front of Knicks guard Josh Hart in the first half of an NBA game Wednesday in Cleveland. Credit: AP/Sue Ogrocki
CLEVELAND — For the Knicks, any game against the best teams in the NBA will be accompanied not only by a national TV audience, but by the constant reminder that they have yet to win one of these this season.
So, as they fell apart in the second half against the Cavaliers Wednesday night, dragging their record against the top three teams in the NBA — Cleveland, Boston and Oklahoma City — to 0-8, the Knicks could reasonably argue it will be different in the postseason. The question wasn’t so much what went wrong in the 124-105 loss at Rocket Arena but rather, would it change when the playoffs begin?
While Jalen Brunson accompanied the Knicks on this trip to Cleveland and Atlanta, he remained sidelined for this game, along with backup point guards Deuce McBride and Cam Payne. And Mitchell Robinson was held out on the second half of a back-to-back, meaning that he hasn’t been in any of the eight games against the NBA’s elite teams.
On this night, was it tired legs? Was it the missing pieces for the Knicks? Or was it a gap in talent that explains away how this game turned from a terrific first half to a disappointing bus ride to the plane to the next city.
“It’s 0-0 when you get to that point,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “That would be the tell. I don’t think anything right now should ruin our confidence or make this team feel any other way but extremely confident with the work we put in.
“I see it and we should feel good going into the playoffs. Right now we’ve got six more games and we’ve got to focus on each and every one. We can keep building and be the best team we can be with everything going our way.”
Without Brunson, OG Anunoby has raised his offensive game, and this seemed to be one of those nights — the Cavs unable to slow him down early as he scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half.
The Knicks quickly opened up a double-digit lead in the first quarter and held that through much of the first half, leading by as many as 15 before settling for a 60-53 advantage at the break. That was, in part, thanks to the play of Anunoby, who went 7 of 10 shooting — including 5 of 6 from three — along with five assists. Late in the half Anunoby and Towns each were called for their third fouls and the lead went from 15 to seven.
But, whatever the reason, the game turned quickly in the third quarter. It took just 4:15 for the Cavs to take their first lead since the opening minute of the game and they kept piling on, converting 17 of 21 shots — 15 of 15 from two-point range — in the third period to take a 91-85 lead into the fourth quarter.
“It changed the whole outlook of the game,” Josh Hart said of the foul trouble before halftime. “When you’re already down three rotation guys, two more basically are out of the game because of fouls, it changed the whole outlook. We were still up at that point. Got to just give them credit. That’s a good team. They’re No. 1 in the East for a reason.”
The Cavs kept extending the lead in the fourth, bringing in waves of fresh legs while the Knicks wilted. By the end, the frustration showed as Towns, who had 25 points and 13 rebounds, scored on a follow with 3:55 to play and then was jawing at Cleveland’s DeAndre Hunter, who simply waved him to the Knicks bench.
So what does it mean? Do the Knicks have to prove something in the regular season to make someone a believer in the postseason?
What the Knicks didn’t want was to find themselves on the losing side of a one-sided game, like the 37-point loss they suffered in the last meeting with the Cavs, or the opening night loss to Boston when they trailed by that much. With 2:11 left, the Knicks emptied the bench, trailing by 21.
“It thought the first half we really played smart, hard and did a lot of good things,” Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Third quarter, I think it was 83-83 with about two minutes to go. And then we didn’t close out that quarter well. We ended up being down 6 or 8. And then last two minutes we gave them momentum going into the fourth. And then that’s where we fell short. To win here, we know we got to play 48 minutes of good basketball.”
Notes & Quotes: Thibodeau said that Brunson could practice if the Knicks practice in Atlanta, having been cleared for basketball activities — with a possible return to game action either Saturday or Sunday, back home against Phoenix. McBride and Payne sound even closer to playing. “Those guys, they’re close,” Thibodeau said. “They’re not quite there. Cam’s in the same boat and Jalen’s getting pretty close as well. Deuce and Cam should be any day.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
