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The Cavs and Knicks fly to Cleveland from NYC after both teams won in the Big Apple Thursday night; the Cavs decisively and the Knicks in OT. Josh Hart and OG Anunoby were out for the Knicks. It’s unclear as to whether either will face the Cavs.
This will be the second time this season the Cavs have played the Knicks with two more games to come, both in the final seven regular season games. Still too early to tell if those games will be meaningful to either team.
The Knicks are 37-18 overall and have won 10 of their last 12, losing only to the Lakers and Boston. They are 17-8 on the road, 11-12 against teams .500 and over, and 26-6 against teams below .500. Their 3rd place standing is due entirely to their ability to consistently beat losing teams. Note they have played 23 games against winning teams and 32 against losers. Depending on the source the Knicks have either the 6th or 9th most difficult remaining schedule.
These teams have only played once, in the first week of the season, with Cleveland winning 110-104 in New York. The Knicks’ starters played 37-40 minutes except for Karl-Anthony Towns, who fouled out with 13 points after 32 minutes. Jalen Brunson was 8-for-24 and the Knicks’ bench only scored 20 points. Garland had 34 and Mitchell 25 for the Cavs as the Core Four scored all but 19 points.
The Knicks have a great offense, ranked 4th in scoring at 118.4 ppg. They only got 104 against the Cavs back in October, however. The Knicks are all about attacking the rim. In terms of frequency of shots, they rank 4th at the rim, 18th in the mid-range, and 27th on 3’s. But in terms of accuracy it’s the opposite; they are 16th at the rim, 2nd in the midrange, and 4th on 3’s. It seems like they should take more 3’s and stop attacking the rim so much, especially against the Cavs, who lead the league in opponents’ shooting percentage at the rim.
The Knicks seem like a favorable matchup for the Cavs because they are committed to attacking the rim which is the strength of the Cavs’ defense.
The Cavs have the best 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA while the Knicks are last in opponents’ 3-point percentage. It’s the best 3-point shooting team against the worst 3-point defending team.
Ideally the Knicks will be attacking the rim with minimal success while the Cavs are relentlessly knocking down 3’s.
The Knicks play slow, ranking 23rd in pace. They protect the ball, having the 6th lowest turnover percentage. They take their time and attack the rim out of the half court offense. The Cavs and Knicks rank 1st and 2nd in points per possession in the half court. The Knicks excel at offensive rebounding, ranking 4th in putback points per missed shot. The key for the Cavs will be to get defensive boards after the first missed shot or at worst the second. They had trouble protecting the defensive glass in the first half against Brooklyn last night.
The Knicks got 13 offensive rebounds in the first game; four each by Bridges and Hart. Limiting the Knicks to one shot will be crucial.
The Knicks are not that tall, but they’re very active. KAT is 7’0”, OG Anunoby is 6’7”, Mikal Bridges is 6’6”, Josh Hart is 6’4”, and Jalen Brunson is 6’2”. That’s not a tall lineup. Off the bench they have Precious Achiuwa at 6’8”, Landry Shamet at 6’4”, and Cam Payne at 6’3”. Not much height outside of KAT both in the starting lineup and off the bench.
Brunson leads in scoring at 26.1 pts and 7.5 assists on 49% overall and 40% on 3’s. Bridges averages 17.7 pts on 49% and 36%. Hart averages 14.7 pts and at 6’4” is still punching way above his weight in the rebound department at 9.6 per game. Isaac Okoro needs to study tape of this guy. Anunoby averages 16.4 points and KAT averages 24.7 pts and 13.4 rebounds on 53% overall and 44% on 3’s.
Obviously everybody in their starting lineup can score and they play 5-out with KAT, who I’ve heard described as the best 3-point shooting big man ever. Their bench is light, however, which is why the starters play so many minutes. Payne and Achiuwa average about 7 points and Shamet 3.3.
As a team the Knicks shoot 49.6% overall and 37.6% on 3’s. That 3-point percentage is the 5th highest. They shoot 3’s very well, they just don’t take many. I don’t know why. Maybe Thibs is too old school.
Defensively the Knicks are about average, ranking 13th in points allowed per game. Part of that is due to the slow pace as they rank 24th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage and last in opponents’ 3-point percentage. Like I said, it’s the most accurate 3-point shooting team against the worst 3-point defending team.
The Knicks rank 6th lowest in opponents’ percentage of 3-point shots. For some reason teams don’t shoot many 3’s against the Knicks even though they’re the worst at stopping them. Maybe the Cavs will change that.
The Knicks are average at forcing turnovers but rank 29th in block percentage. Their lack of height outside of Towns probably affects their ability to block shots in the paint as well as alter 3-point shots. I think they’re lucky teams don’t take more 3’s against them.
Despite not blocking many shots the Knicks rank 7th in rim defense and 6th in mid-range defense. They must be good at stripping the ball before the shot. However, in the first game Mobley and Allen went 11-for-18 on 2-point shots.
cleaningtheglass.com, which filters out garbage time numbers, ranks the Knicks 2nd in offense and 18th in defense for the season. Over their last six games they slipped, ranking 5th in offense and 29th in defense. In their last game before the break they gave up 137 to Atlanta in regulation and 11 more in OT. Niang and LeVert had 41 points off the bench for Atlanta and guards Trae Young and Dyson Daniels combined for 61. The Knicks can’t stop guards. Darius and Donovan combined for 64 in the first game.
The keys for Cleveland are to take advantage of the Knicks’ league-worst 3-point defense to run up the score and to hit the defensive glass hard and limit them to one shot. Since the last time these teams played the Cavs swapped LeVert and Niang for Strus and Hunter, but that should be an upgrade. Caris and the Minivan combined for just 10 points in 41 minutes in the first game.
Isaac Okoro returned to the rotation last night and Dean Wade supposedly will be playing tonight.
The Knicks’ starters played big minutes in New York last night as they won in OT against the Bulls despite Hart and Anunoby being out. Achiuwa played 46 minutes, Bridges 44, KAT 43, McBride 42, and Brunson only 38. None of the Cavs’ starters played more than 30 and Allen only 25.
Hart and Anunoby combined for 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 steals in the first game against the Cavs so if they can’t go it would be a huge break for Cleveland.
This will be the second time this season the Cavs have played the Knicks with two more games to come, both in the final seven regular season games. Still too early to tell if those games will be meaningful to either team.
The Knicks are 37-18 overall and have won 10 of their last 12, losing only to the Lakers and Boston. They are 17-8 on the road, 11-12 against teams .500 and over, and 26-6 against teams below .500. Their 3rd place standing is due entirely to their ability to consistently beat losing teams. Note they have played 23 games against winning teams and 32 against losers. Depending on the source the Knicks have either the 6th or 9th most difficult remaining schedule.
These teams have only played once, in the first week of the season, with Cleveland winning 110-104 in New York. The Knicks’ starters played 37-40 minutes except for Karl-Anthony Towns, who fouled out with 13 points after 32 minutes. Jalen Brunson was 8-for-24 and the Knicks’ bench only scored 20 points. Garland had 34 and Mitchell 25 for the Cavs as the Core Four scored all but 19 points.
The Knicks have a great offense, ranked 4th in scoring at 118.4 ppg. They only got 104 against the Cavs back in October, however. The Knicks are all about attacking the rim. In terms of frequency of shots, they rank 4th at the rim, 18th in the mid-range, and 27th on 3’s. But in terms of accuracy it’s the opposite; they are 16th at the rim, 2nd in the midrange, and 4th on 3’s. It seems like they should take more 3’s and stop attacking the rim so much, especially against the Cavs, who lead the league in opponents’ shooting percentage at the rim.
The Knicks seem like a favorable matchup for the Cavs because they are committed to attacking the rim which is the strength of the Cavs’ defense.
The Cavs have the best 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA while the Knicks are last in opponents’ 3-point percentage. It’s the best 3-point shooting team against the worst 3-point defending team.
Ideally the Knicks will be attacking the rim with minimal success while the Cavs are relentlessly knocking down 3’s.
The Knicks play slow, ranking 23rd in pace. They protect the ball, having the 6th lowest turnover percentage. They take their time and attack the rim out of the half court offense. The Cavs and Knicks rank 1st and 2nd in points per possession in the half court. The Knicks excel at offensive rebounding, ranking 4th in putback points per missed shot. The key for the Cavs will be to get defensive boards after the first missed shot or at worst the second. They had trouble protecting the defensive glass in the first half against Brooklyn last night.
The Knicks got 13 offensive rebounds in the first game; four each by Bridges and Hart. Limiting the Knicks to one shot will be crucial.
The Knicks are not that tall, but they’re very active. KAT is 7’0”, OG Anunoby is 6’7”, Mikal Bridges is 6’6”, Josh Hart is 6’4”, and Jalen Brunson is 6’2”. That’s not a tall lineup. Off the bench they have Precious Achiuwa at 6’8”, Landry Shamet at 6’4”, and Cam Payne at 6’3”. Not much height outside of KAT both in the starting lineup and off the bench.
Brunson leads in scoring at 26.1 pts and 7.5 assists on 49% overall and 40% on 3’s. Bridges averages 17.7 pts on 49% and 36%. Hart averages 14.7 pts and at 6’4” is still punching way above his weight in the rebound department at 9.6 per game. Isaac Okoro needs to study tape of this guy. Anunoby averages 16.4 points and KAT averages 24.7 pts and 13.4 rebounds on 53% overall and 44% on 3’s.
Obviously everybody in their starting lineup can score and they play 5-out with KAT, who I’ve heard described as the best 3-point shooting big man ever. Their bench is light, however, which is why the starters play so many minutes. Payne and Achiuwa average about 7 points and Shamet 3.3.
As a team the Knicks shoot 49.6% overall and 37.6% on 3’s. That 3-point percentage is the 5th highest. They shoot 3’s very well, they just don’t take many. I don’t know why. Maybe Thibs is too old school.
Defensively the Knicks are about average, ranking 13th in points allowed per game. Part of that is due to the slow pace as they rank 24th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage and last in opponents’ 3-point percentage. Like I said, it’s the most accurate 3-point shooting team against the worst 3-point defending team.
The Knicks rank 6th lowest in opponents’ percentage of 3-point shots. For some reason teams don’t shoot many 3’s against the Knicks even though they’re the worst at stopping them. Maybe the Cavs will change that.
The Knicks are average at forcing turnovers but rank 29th in block percentage. Their lack of height outside of Towns probably affects their ability to block shots in the paint as well as alter 3-point shots. I think they’re lucky teams don’t take more 3’s against them.
Despite not blocking many shots the Knicks rank 7th in rim defense and 6th in mid-range defense. They must be good at stripping the ball before the shot. However, in the first game Mobley and Allen went 11-for-18 on 2-point shots.
cleaningtheglass.com, which filters out garbage time numbers, ranks the Knicks 2nd in offense and 18th in defense for the season. Over their last six games they slipped, ranking 5th in offense and 29th in defense. In their last game before the break they gave up 137 to Atlanta in regulation and 11 more in OT. Niang and LeVert had 41 points off the bench for Atlanta and guards Trae Young and Dyson Daniels combined for 61. The Knicks can’t stop guards. Darius and Donovan combined for 64 in the first game.
The keys for Cleveland are to take advantage of the Knicks’ league-worst 3-point defense to run up the score and to hit the defensive glass hard and limit them to one shot. Since the last time these teams played the Cavs swapped LeVert and Niang for Strus and Hunter, but that should be an upgrade. Caris and the Minivan combined for just 10 points in 41 minutes in the first game.
Isaac Okoro returned to the rotation last night and Dean Wade supposedly will be playing tonight.
The Knicks’ starters played big minutes in New York last night as they won in OT against the Bulls despite Hart and Anunoby being out. Achiuwa played 46 minutes, Bridges 44, KAT 43, McBride 42, and Brunson only 38. None of the Cavs’ starters played more than 30 and Allen only 25.
Hart and Anunoby combined for 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 steals in the first game against the Cavs so if they can’t go it would be a huge break for Cleveland.
