Knicks cough up lead as Cavaliers rally to victory
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill on Monday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Kenny Atkinson got a taste of what a championship team looks like during his time as associate head coach with Golden State, and as the Long Island native prepared for his return home as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he had an idea of what he was walking into.
He’d seen the Knicks of last season’s vintage with Jalen Brunson carrying the team, and from afar, he’d seen how the Knicks had dominated the Cavaliers with a team built on toughness, outmuscling Cleveland’s finesse.
“I think they’re championship contenders,” Atkinson said. “When you add two All-Stars, they’re going to be really good and really tough to beat in the East. Obviously with Jalen, they’ve got a great group.
“[Knicks president Leon Rose has] done a heck of a job. [Coach Tom Thibodeau] has done a heck of a job. I expect to have a lot of battles with these guys. I know they’ve owned us.”
On first look, the newly constructed version of the Knicks may have more talent, and on this night, they showed flashes of the same toughness that they had in the past. But the Cavaliers, while running back essentially the same roster — with the only change coming in the form of Atkinson — were a different team, too.
The Cavs fought back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to pull out a 110-104 win at Madison Square Garden and run their record to 4-0, and they did it by answering everything the Knicks threw at them in the fourth quarter.
Brunson left the game and headed to the locker room in the third quarter and Josh Hart spent the final minutes in the locker room after banging his right shin in a collision in the fourth quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with only 13 points and 10 rebounds — taking just eight shots — before fouling out.
“I thought it was honestly just a weird game from start to finish,” Brunson said. “It was kind of a grind-it-out game. Had a 13-point lead and then let it slip away. It’s no excuse. We’ve got to play our best basketball in the fourth quarter and we didn’t tonight.”
The Knicks led 72-61 with 4:07 left in the third quarter when Brunson, who struggled much of the night and still finished with 21 points (8-for-24 shooting), drove into the lane and came down awkwardly, limping and hopping.
Seconds later he was subbed out and headed straight to the locker room. He returned quickly to the bench with a wrap on his right knee, but he didn’t enter the game again until a timeout 59 seconds into the fourth quarter. By that time, the Cavs had evened the score at 78.
The teams traded baskets and Hart, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, stole the ball from Caris LeVert and fed Deuce McBride for a fast-break layup to tie the score at 84.
With the Knicks down 93-89, Hart, who had been clotheslined earlier in the quarter by Georges Niang, took a hard hit at midcourt, colliding with LeVert.
Shortly after, Hart asked out and went directly to the locker room with the Knicks down five with 4:04 left. He never returned to the bench and already was gone when the Knicks opened the locker room to the media.
Thibodeau said, “They said it was a bruise, but I haven’t gotten anything further.”
“Of course, anybody that doesn’t finish the game, it’s hard to see, and you want your brothers out there finishing the game with you,” Brunson said. “I mean, we’ll see. Don’t know what’s the situation, but we’ll see going forward. “
Darius Garland immediately drained a three-pointer for a 99-91 lead. The Knicks pulled within 101-99 on a pair of free throws by Towns and then one of two from Brunson with 1:41 to play, but Garland scored 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Knicks at bay.
What has happened in the past might not be reflective of where the teams are now. While the Knicks knocked the Cavs out of the playoffs two years ago in dominating fashion and have beaten Cleveland in nine of the last 11 meetings before Monday night’s matchup, that was definitely a case of “that was then and this is now.”
The Knicks have changed dramatically. Mitchell Robinson dominated in the middle in that series and is sidelined for months rehabilitating from ankle surgery. Julius Randle is gone from that playoff series, and even from last season, the Knicks now have two new pieces — Towns and Mikal Bridges.
And the Cavs may have a similar roster, but Atkinson has taken over for JB Bickerstaff, his first head-coaching job since he was pushed out of Brooklyn in the odd times that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were running the franchise.
But in that time he learned, serving as an assistant to Ty Lue with the Los Angeles Clippers and then as associate head coach under Steve Kerr with Golden State.
While the Knicks have gone through a wild roller-coaster ride in the first two games, dominated in Boston in the opener and then recovering for an easy win over Indiana Friday, Cleveland is still perfect.
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.
