It was another tough night for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York against the Knicks, which was another disappointing L to the Knicks on the road this season. In Donovan Mitchell’s return to the court after missing over a week with a groin injury, the Cavs lost an ugly, hotly-contested matchup with the Knicks on Tuesday night, this time to the tune of a 105-103 defeat. Julius Randle led all scorers with 36 points on 8-of-12 shooting from three-point range.
For the Cavaliers, it was a poor offensive performance, combined with one of the worst outings from the bench unit all season. Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen each had 24 points for the Wine and Gold, but nothing came easy for the Cavs on the offensive end. They shot just 46% from the field on the night, combined with a fairly poor 36.4% effort from three-point range, and they weren’t able to get things going nearly enough.
It seemed to be the complete opposite for the Knicks, who seemed to get whatever they wanted, especially from the three-point line. New York was sizzling from beyond the arc, hitting 17-of-33 from deep, a 51.5 percent shooting clip. However, that wasn’t the most disappointing thing from the Cavaliers performance last night in a game that coming in, one would’ve thought they should be in line to win.
First, let’s take a look at the top performer for the Cavaliers, though, and surely the biggest bright spot from Tuesday, prior to examining their pair of duds from the contest.
Cavs Stud: Jarrett Allen
We’re getting to that point in the season where Cavalier fans see how important big man Jarrett Allen is to everything they do. People often forget that the Cavs would have likely been a shoe-in for a top-6 seed in the Eastern Conference last year had Allen stayed healthy. Well, last night was another great performance for the man from Texas.
Allen finished the outing with 24 points and 12 rebounds. On top of that he blocked one shot and finished 12-of-17 from the floor. He didn’t get to the free throw line all night, which was surprising if you watched the game. Allen was physical around the rim, but didn’t receive the benefit of the whistle the entire night.
Overall it was a solid performance from Allen. On a night where the Cavaliers didn’t have a single bench player with a positive +/-, it underscored how important he is to Cleveland on the defensive end, but also the offensive side of the ball.
We often look at Allen the last line of defense, but he plays an important role on the offense as well, grabbing offensive rebounds, and being a key factor in the pick-and-roll game for the Cavalier guards.
Cavs Duds: Bench unit and J.B. Bickerstaff
The Cavaliers second unit has become a real issue heading into the second half of the season. The Cavaliers used an 11-man rotation last night, and not a single one of the six players who saw minutes had a very positive impact. Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio played 12 and 13 minutes respectively, but combined to go 1-of-5 from the field and combine for three points. That simply isn’t enough from two of your primary second-unit players.
With that being said, I was very disappointed in Caris LeVert last night. He played 21 minutes, and is supposed to be the Cavalier sparkplug off the bench. Last night he did have nine points and and three assists, but his impact was mostly a negative one.
In his minutes played he finished with a -26 +/-, and on top of that looked lost on defense at times. He got beat to the rim multiple times all game, and then made the bad decision to foul, and allow his man to score. With the trade deadline somewhat approaching, I’m not sure where Caris LeVert stands among that group if he can’t defend, and isn’t the instant-offense on the bench like he once was.
The main culprit for last night’s loss, however, was head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Last night was a very winnable game, and the Cavaliers couldn’t pull out a much-needed victory.
Bickerstaff made some questionable moves all night long, including going with an 11-man rotation. While I am aware that it’s very important to be healthy at the right times, I don’t think the Cavs need an 11-man rotation. With Dean Wade back from injury, what does giving Lamar Stevens six minutes in a close game do? What does he do better than Wade? On top of that, I get that it’s important to get Ricky Rubio back into the flow of things, but why are there any rotations without Garland and Mitchell?
It’s very obvious they are the best options on the offensive end for the Cavs, so at least one of them should be on the court pretty much at all times considering the team really struggles to score without both of them in the lineup. In a winnable game, those are questions we shouldn’t have to be asking the head coach.
I’m usually not one to go after the head coach, but last night was a very winnable game, and it would have been huge for the Cavaliers to win. However, something just didn’t seem right all night. The rotations were odd from Bickerstaff, and at times the pace they use drives me crazy. Even with all that in mind, the Cavaliers are still in a good position in a tough Eastern Conference.
With the loss, the Cavaliers fell 1.5 games behind the Brooklyn Nets for fourth place in the conference. If the playoffs started today, the Nets would certainly be a tough matchup. Going forward, the Cavaliers continue their road trip as they head to face the Houston Rockets on Thursday night, followed by a meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Like I said, I don’t usually go after coaches, and it sure seems like it’s too late to make a coaching change, but some things need to get worked out by Bickerstaff and his coaching staff. There really shouldn’t ever be a time when Garland or Mitchell aren’t on the court. It doesn’t make much sense in a league where the scoring is at an all-time high. While it was a bad loss, it’s not the end of the world.
The Cavaliers are still very much in-play in the Eastern Conference, they just need to work out some kinks before we get to the playoffs.