After stumbling and losing to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their first-round series, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to get a win in Game 2 on Tuesday night, and they did convincingly.
The Cavs led by as many as 29 points and would defeat the Knicks 107-90 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to even the series up at 1.
Game 3 is Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ win over the Knicks
The Great:
Darius Garland was not at his best in Game 1, but he was at his best in Game 2. Garland scored 26 of his game-high 32 points in the first half to go along with seven assists. He was 6/10 from the field in that first half, including 4/6 from deep. He was on fire! That is the Garland the Cavs know and love.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in points in Game 1, but in Game 2, Mitchell did score 17 points, but he was more of a factor as a distributor. He had a career-high 13 assists; he got Garland and his teammates going.
Caris LeVert gave the Cavs a huge lift off the bench. LeVert got most of the minutes at small forward after Isaac Okoro was benched, and he scored 24 points—great minutes from LeVert.
Evan Mobley was much better in Game 2. He had a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and two steals; he helped with rim protection as he had two blocks.
Defense: Cleveland had great defensive energy in Game 2. They held the Knicks to 37% shooting, and the Cavs created 18 turnovers, which led to 32 points. They were ferocious on the defensive end and got after the Knicks. Cleveland did a much better job on Brunson and Randle in Game 2, as they were a combined 13/37 from the field.
Second Quarter: Cleveland led 25-22 at the end of the first quarter; the Cavs exploded in the second quarter.
Garland had 15 points in the quarter.
They created nine turnovers, which led to 19 points, and led by as many as 20 points in the quarter. The Cavs outscored New York 34-17 in the second; from there, it was smooth sailing.
Not So Great:
There is nothing to see under this section. Well, the turnovers were high(18), but they overcame it. We could put Okoro(0 points on 0/0 shooting) on this list, but he only played three minutes, so that’s not fair.
Bottom Line:
This was a great effort by the Cavs. They corrected all the mistakes in Game 1. Cleveland outrebounded the Knicks, Garland got off, and they defended well.
As stated numerous times, we knew this would be a long series; we knew this would be a competitive series. Let’s see how Cleveland responds in Game 3 at MSG. The Garden will be a hostile environment.
Side note: Jarrett Allen was called for a flagrant one foul after attempting to block Julius Randle’s dunk attempt late in the game. Was it dirty? No! Was it unnecessary? Probably. The game was out of reach(103-82 with 2:22 left in the game); in reality, both players should not have been the game. That could have been very bad for the Knicks, but Randle, who fell awkwardly, says he’s okay.
Best of the Rest:
For the Knicks, Randle had 22 points and eight rebounds; Brunson added 20 points.
Allen had nine points, 10 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks for the Cavs.
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