3 takeaways from the Cavaliers’ 106-86 loss to the Knicks
By Corey Casey
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their fifth game in a row after an ugly 106-86 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday in an earlier tip-off time due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’ll get into a few takeaways from that one.
A little over a week ago the Cleveland Cavaliers went into the Mile High City, against one of the best teams in the NBA in the Denver Nuggets, and rebuilding Cavs pulled off their win of the year of the 2019-20- season. The Nuggets were coming off a five-game road trip, but it was still a heck of a win for Cleveland.
Fast forward one week later, and the Cavaliers had perhaps their worst loss of the season. The Cavs are in the early stages of a long rebuild, so lopsided losses in a season to teams like the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers last week, on a back-to-back, too, are understandable and expected.
Losses in the past month in which they had double-digit leads in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls are gut-wrenching losses, but can qualify as more growing pains for a young rebuilding team that is starting a pair of guards in their first and second year in Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, though.
What happened in Monday’s game, which was at a unique 5 P.M. tip off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, against a terrible New York Knicks team who were also missing starting wing RJ Barrett due to a reported right ankle sprain, is a loss that probably shouldn’t happen.
This is against a team that coming into Monday was 11-32 and had lost 8 of their last 9 games. If nothing else, the Cavaliers being at home should be competitive against teams like the Knicks, who are on a similar talent level. With that said, here are the biggest takeaways from Cleveland’s 106-86 loss to New York.