The Knicks let a second-half lead slip and lost 110-104 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the takeaways…
-Things started slowly offensively for both teams, with neither side able to get into a groove thanks to strong defensive play. New York missed its first seven three-point attempts, while Cleveland went 1-for-7 from deep to start the game.
-With 2:07 left in the first quarter, Cam Payne finally connected on a three-ball for the team’s first of the night. Karl-Anthony Cities followed by a three on the Knicks’ next possession, bringing them to within three points in the quarter.
–Jalen Brunson had a quiet first twelve minutes, scoring just two points on 1-for-6 shooting as New York entered the second quarter trailing 22-18.
– Then the offense started for the Knicks. They scored 34 points on a total team effort — Brunson, Jos Hart And Miles McBride each had seven Mikal Bridges six added.
The defense also held steady, holding the Cavs to 23 points (despite decent 7-for-16 shooting from the floor) and 45 points through two quarters. It wasn’t the prettiest, but New York entered the second half with a seven-point lead at 52-45.
-Baskets were difficult to obtain from the locker room at first. However, that quickly changed for the Knicks, who opened a game-high 13-point lead over Cleveland with 4:29 left in the quarter thanks to OG Anunoby‘s three-pointer.
But from there, the Cavaliers went on a 13-2 run to cut their deficit to just two points. In that time, New York was 1-for-6 from the field. Through three quarters, the Knicks’ lead shrank to 78-74.
-That lead disappeared early in the fourth quarter after that George Niang hit a triple to put Cleveland on top 81-80 – its first lead since the team led 31-29 with 8:17 left in the second.
-While the Cavs made their first four shots of the quarter (two of which were threes), New York started the frame just 1-for-4 (two missed threes). Free throws by Hart and a made bucket by McBride tied the game at 84-84 before the Knicks regained the lead on McBride’s three-point shot.
-The lead was short-lived, however, as Darius Garland answered with a triple of his own, the first of three deep shots he made in the final quarter. He finished with a game-high 34 points.
Cleveland’s lead reached eight points with 3:51 to go, but New York kept fighting and cut the lead to three with just under two minutes remaining. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough and the Knicks dropped their second game of the young season.
-All five starters finished with double-digit points, while Towns and Hart each had a double-double, though Hart added five turnovers to his ledger.
Game MVP: Darius Garland
Garland finished with 34 points on 12-for-19 shooting (5-for-8 from three) in 33 minutes and made a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Cavs needed him most.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks hit the road on Wednesday night for a four-game road trip with a 7:30 PM tipoff with the Miami Heat.
