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The New York Knickerbockers roll into Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Clippers 110-102 at home Sunday afternoon. The Clippers are 23-25 and were missing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. The Knicks had lost three in a row before yesterday. The Cavs have won 8 of 11.
The Knicks have been better on the road this season with an 11-10 record. They have had the 3rd easiest schedule in the NBA so far according to teamrankings.com so they may not be as good as their 23-24 record suggests.
The Knicks have been around .500 all year. They can’t seem to get any real traction despite playing the third easiest schedule.
The Cavs beat the Knicks way back on Nov. 11 by a score of 126-109 in what was the Cavs’ second highest scoring game of the year. Collin Sexton was injured after 13 minutes and was replaced by Ricky Rubio, who ended up with 37 points and 10 assists. The Cavs’ guards feasted that game as Rubio, Garland, and Sexton combined for 61 points and 19 assists in 79 minutes.
The Knicks will have the same personnel this time around except that Kemba Walker, who missed the first game, replaces Derrick Rose, who is injured. Rose had 17 points on 8-for-14 in the first game. Walker is averaging 13.5 points.
The Cavs did not have Markkanen, Love or Okoro in the first game. This time they have Love and Okoro but won’t have Rubio or Markkanen.
PF Julius Randle is their focal point, leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists with a line of 18.8/10.0/5.1. However, he’s only shooting 41.1% from the field and 30.8% on 3’s, so he’s been a somewhat inefficient.
After Randle the next six highest scoring averages belong to guards, although you could argue that R.J. Barrett is a small forward. Barrett is averaging 16.9 pts on 41.7% overall and 35.0% on 3’s. Then it’s Evan Fournier at 13.7 pts and Walker at 13.5 pts. The top four scorers are all shooting 41% from the field.
Former Cav Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley, both shooting guards, average 11.5 and 10.3 points off the bench. The Knicks are a balanced group with seven players averaging 10-19 points. Starting center Mitchell Robinson (7’0”) averages 8.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25 minutes. Backup Nerlens Noel (6’11”) only averages 3.5 pts but he had a nice game against the Cavs in November with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Both centers are mainly defenders.
Kemba Walker did not play last night and may not be available tonight. If that’s the case the Knicks will be missing their top two point guards in Walker and Rose. Walker is listed as a game time decision as is Mitchell Robinson. If their starting PG and C can’t go it will significantly affect the Knicks chances.
The Knicks are near the bottom of the league offensively, ranking 27th in points per game and 25th in effective field goal percentage.. They are last in the NBA in points in the paint so they will be relying almost exclusively on outside shooting, especially with Mobley and Allen protecting the rim. They rely heavily on 3-point shooting, ranking 8th in 3’s attempted and 9th in percentage made. The Cavs will need to focus on defending the perimeter against this team. Fournier, Walker and Burks are all shooting 39-41% on 3’s and Barrett is at 35%.
The Knicks rank 7th in offensive rebounding percentage so the Cavs need to get on the defensive glass, especially the guards as there will be a lot of long rebounds off missed 3’s.
The Knicks don’t run; they’re 27th in fast break points so they appear to be a team that plays very deliberately. They are 29th in assists per possession so they try to get a favorable matchup and go one-on-one with lots of 3’s.
This game will feature the second best scoring defense against the third worst scoring offense (and missing Rose), so the Knicks should not score much more than 90 points if that. The Cavs held OKC to 87 points two days ago and the Knicks average 3 more points per game than OKC.
Defensively the Knicks are solid, ranking 6th in opponents’ points per game. In terms of defensive efficiency the Knicks are slightly above average so they must play at a slow pace if they’re 6th in points allowed. They excel on the inside, ranking 2nd in preventing points in the paint. They’re 5th against 2-point shots. This will be a challenge for the Cavs as they just lost their best 3-point shooter of late.
The Knicks are 8th in block percentage but only 24th in steal percentage. They are very aggressive defensively as they foul more than average (22nd in fouls per play) and obviously they collapse and defend the paint extremely well. The Cavs may have to play an inside-out game where they get the ball down low, draw the triple team, and kick it out for an open 3.
With Markannen out the Cavs need Garland, Love, and Cedi to pick it up from the outside and if Okoro, Stevens, and Windler could knock down a couple that will help, too.
The Knicks are very challenged offensively and even more so if Walker is out. They played in New York last night while the Cavs had a day off at home. Having Wade replace Markkanen makes the Cavs even better defensively so I think the Knicks will struggle to break 90 points even if Walker plays.
On offensive the Cavs could have trouble scoring inside given that the Knicks are 2nd in preventing points in the paint, but in the first game Mobley had 26 points (11-for-15) and Allen had 18 (8-for-15). These guys had no trouble scoring against Robinson, Noel, and Randle in November.
The Cavs played very sloppy against OKC and JBB was not happy after the game and had some stern words about the Cavs’ effort and approach.
“We spoke. They’re aware,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ll take the win, but that was a disappointing game for us. We didn’t play the game and approach the game with the seriousness that we needed to.”
I expect the “aware” Cavs to bounce back against the Knicks and play sharper with fewer turnovers and hopefully better 3-point and free throw shooting than we saw against OKC.
The Knicks have been better on the road this season with an 11-10 record. They have had the 3rd easiest schedule in the NBA so far according to teamrankings.com so they may not be as good as their 23-24 record suggests.
The Knicks have been around .500 all year. They can’t seem to get any real traction despite playing the third easiest schedule.
The Cavs beat the Knicks way back on Nov. 11 by a score of 126-109 in what was the Cavs’ second highest scoring game of the year. Collin Sexton was injured after 13 minutes and was replaced by Ricky Rubio, who ended up with 37 points and 10 assists. The Cavs’ guards feasted that game as Rubio, Garland, and Sexton combined for 61 points and 19 assists in 79 minutes.
The Knicks will have the same personnel this time around except that Kemba Walker, who missed the first game, replaces Derrick Rose, who is injured. Rose had 17 points on 8-for-14 in the first game. Walker is averaging 13.5 points.
The Cavs did not have Markkanen, Love or Okoro in the first game. This time they have Love and Okoro but won’t have Rubio or Markkanen.
PF Julius Randle is their focal point, leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists with a line of 18.8/10.0/5.1. However, he’s only shooting 41.1% from the field and 30.8% on 3’s, so he’s been a somewhat inefficient.
After Randle the next six highest scoring averages belong to guards, although you could argue that R.J. Barrett is a small forward. Barrett is averaging 16.9 pts on 41.7% overall and 35.0% on 3’s. Then it’s Evan Fournier at 13.7 pts and Walker at 13.5 pts. The top four scorers are all shooting 41% from the field.
Former Cav Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley, both shooting guards, average 11.5 and 10.3 points off the bench. The Knicks are a balanced group with seven players averaging 10-19 points. Starting center Mitchell Robinson (7’0”) averages 8.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25 minutes. Backup Nerlens Noel (6’11”) only averages 3.5 pts but he had a nice game against the Cavs in November with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Both centers are mainly defenders.
Kemba Walker did not play last night and may not be available tonight. If that’s the case the Knicks will be missing their top two point guards in Walker and Rose. Walker is listed as a game time decision as is Mitchell Robinson. If their starting PG and C can’t go it will significantly affect the Knicks chances.
The Knicks are near the bottom of the league offensively, ranking 27th in points per game and 25th in effective field goal percentage.. They are last in the NBA in points in the paint so they will be relying almost exclusively on outside shooting, especially with Mobley and Allen protecting the rim. They rely heavily on 3-point shooting, ranking 8th in 3’s attempted and 9th in percentage made. The Cavs will need to focus on defending the perimeter against this team. Fournier, Walker and Burks are all shooting 39-41% on 3’s and Barrett is at 35%.
The Knicks rank 7th in offensive rebounding percentage so the Cavs need to get on the defensive glass, especially the guards as there will be a lot of long rebounds off missed 3’s.
The Knicks don’t run; they’re 27th in fast break points so they appear to be a team that plays very deliberately. They are 29th in assists per possession so they try to get a favorable matchup and go one-on-one with lots of 3’s.
This game will feature the second best scoring defense against the third worst scoring offense (and missing Rose), so the Knicks should not score much more than 90 points if that. The Cavs held OKC to 87 points two days ago and the Knicks average 3 more points per game than OKC.
Defensively the Knicks are solid, ranking 6th in opponents’ points per game. In terms of defensive efficiency the Knicks are slightly above average so they must play at a slow pace if they’re 6th in points allowed. They excel on the inside, ranking 2nd in preventing points in the paint. They’re 5th against 2-point shots. This will be a challenge for the Cavs as they just lost their best 3-point shooter of late.
The Knicks are 8th in block percentage but only 24th in steal percentage. They are very aggressive defensively as they foul more than average (22nd in fouls per play) and obviously they collapse and defend the paint extremely well. The Cavs may have to play an inside-out game where they get the ball down low, draw the triple team, and kick it out for an open 3.
With Markannen out the Cavs need Garland, Love, and Cedi to pick it up from the outside and if Okoro, Stevens, and Windler could knock down a couple that will help, too.
The Knicks are very challenged offensively and even more so if Walker is out. They played in New York last night while the Cavs had a day off at home. Having Wade replace Markkanen makes the Cavs even better defensively so I think the Knicks will struggle to break 90 points even if Walker plays.
On offensive the Cavs could have trouble scoring inside given that the Knicks are 2nd in preventing points in the paint, but in the first game Mobley had 26 points (11-for-15) and Allen had 18 (8-for-15). These guys had no trouble scoring against Robinson, Noel, and Randle in November.
The Cavs played very sloppy against OKC and JBB was not happy after the game and had some stern words about the Cavs’ effort and approach.
“We spoke. They’re aware,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ll take the win, but that was a disappointing game for us. We didn’t play the game and approach the game with the seriousness that we needed to.”
I expect the “aware” Cavs to bounce back against the Knicks and play sharper with fewer turnovers and hopefully better 3-point and free throw shooting than we saw against OKC.
