Game Thread | Knicks playoff series Game #1 | Knicks @ Cavs | April 15, 2023

[jjvors]

I just rewatched the Hart 3 which is where it all went wrong.

I don’t know what the fuck Osman was doing on that play quite frankly. And having him in there for big fourth quarter possessions with these kind of lapses…Okoro would have never let this happen.

I’ll recap it:

Randle caught the ball with about 10 seconds on the far right wing. 18+ feet from the basket. Mobley had mostly single-handedly shut his water off after the first half.

Anyways, Cedi got caught in no man’s land on a off ball screen by Hart to get Mitchell onto Brunson. Cedi decided to dig down at Randle for a week double team. Randle had two options open in the corner and to Hart for threes. He looked to Pass and Garland read the corner lane and sprinted from his initial rotation to Hart to guard the corner. Hart was wide open, but Randle did a Randle panic thing and dumped it to Hartenstein in the middle of the floor even though Cedi was remarkably still out of position. Finally after almost 4-5 seconds Cedi thrns arojnd aftwr I believe Darius screamed the switch to the corner shooter out to him and he realizes Garland rotated for him so he finally recovers to Hart as Hartenstein throws the ball out to him.

Hart had about 4-5 seconds left to shoot, and Cedi inexplicably backs up obviously not knowing the clock situation as Hart goes into his cross over pull-up move, he almost totally slips, and Hart hesitates for a second…like in a “what the fuck is Turkey doin right now? Is he trying to Jedi mind trick me? He knows I got the ball right? He thinks imma just miss or somethin? Anyway, I gotta shoot now” moment and Cedi freezes until he finally realizes Hart is indeed about to pull up with it from deep, and then takes a pretty weak closeout that clearly bothered Hart none. Hart drains it.

It’s really bad to watch over and over again for mental health purposes. In case anyone was wondering which is why I described it.

I’m not sure why Cedi doubled Randle. I would have loved a Randle 17 footer keeping him away from the glass and with Mobley draped all over him. Like that was exactly what I wanted. And he was going to shoot it until Cedi flew in to double. Even if he hits it, we’re down 1 not 2.

So yeah, Cedis defensive lapse almost certainly contributed to our loss in a major way.

Thanks for your in-depth analysis. Cedi apparently got confused about the matchups after he switched.

Cedi often gambles for a steal. His double-team of Randle is typical.

My eye test on Cedi was that he was keeping up with Brunson on the outside and hindering his ability to pull up and shoot. Cedi is 6 8 and Brunson 6 1. Brunson could drive by Cedi, but he'd run into Allen or Mobley in front of him and Cedi beside him.

Although he failed on that play, I'd grade his overall defense as acceptable. Stevens would also make mistakes, but different ones.

I'd say our loss was due to 1) turnovers; 2) rebounding; 3) free throws, before I'd go down to any individual defensive lapses.