With Donovan Mitchell returning from injury against the New York Knicks last night, the stage was set for a Cleveland Cavaliers team healthy for the first time all season to make a statement. Instead, it was the Knicks snapping their own losing streak and beating the Cavs in Madison Square Garden for the second time this season.
The starting lineup was excellent in this one, with four-of-five starters finishing with a plus/minus of at least 12; that’s a noisy stat, but it clearly points to the Cavs’ primary problem in this game. When the bench came in last night a deep Knicks team found its stride and shredded the Cavs. Ricky Rubio finished as a -26 in 13 minutes, Kevin Love had 0 points and was -20, and so on.
The Cavs have been the victims of hot opponent shooting in recent weeks and last night was no exception. The Knicks, not an elite shooting team by any means, seemingly couldn’t miss; they shot 17-for-33 from 3-point range, including an 8-for-12 mark from Julius Randle. The fact that the Cavs were even in this game facing that sort of a barrage was remarkable.
Yet the Cavs were very much in it at the end, tying the game at 100 before Randle hit his eighth 3-pointer of the night. Then a series of rough possessions ensued, with a Darius Garland and-1 bracketed by Donovan Mitchell turning the ball over and getting stuffed twice, including on the last possession where he knifed into the paint but finished awkwardly. Whether Mitchell’s groin was bothering him or he was simply rusty, he did not execute well, and the Cavs lost another close game.
The big picture is fine, but the Cavs have lost a lot of close games recently. Figuring out their late-game woes will go a long way toward this team reaching its goals this season in the playoffs.
More Cavs news
Trivia: Yesterday we highlighted that former Cavaliers player LeBron James is on track to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record for most career points. Who is the only other player on the Top 10 list to have played for the Cavs during his career?
Answer: Shaquille O’Neal! The Big Aristotle suited for the Cavaliers in the 2009-10 season as he neared the end of his career. Shaq is 10th on the list with 28,596, and fifth in career playoff points.
The All-Star Starters are supposed to be announced later today, so here on the website we made our picks for all 24 All-Stars. Does a second Cavaliers player make the cut? How many former Cavs will be in Salt Lake City next month?
NBA news
LeBron James scored 46 points as he screams towards the all-time scoring record, but the LA Clippers took down the Lakers in the Battle-for-L.A. The Lakers got good news, however, as Anthony Davis is set to return tonight against the San Antonio Spurs.
Other injury news was not as bright. Zion Williamson is going to be out for at least two more weeks, as will Kevin Durant. The Memphis Grizzlies are in a mini-tailspin with players in-and-out of the lineup, and starting center Steven Adams will be out 3-5 weeks with a sprained knee.
Coming up: The Cavaliers continue their road trip by flying all the way down to Houston to take on the Rockets on Thursday night.