On Saturday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers will begin their first round series against the New York Knicks, in what has the makings of a hard-fought No. 4-No. 5 matchup in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers do have home court advantage in the series, which should bring some peace of mind, with how Cleveland has done at home this season. In the regular season, the Cavaliers had a 31-10 record at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and it’s safe to say the home crowd is going to be a raucous one for Cleveland.
In the regular season, though, New York did win three out of four games versus Cleveland, and the Knicks beat the Cavaliers 130-116 on March 31 in Cleveland. They shot the heck out of the ball, and New York was led by Jalen Brunson, who had a career-high 48 points in that contest.
Now, it’s fair to have some concerns going into the series, based some on the Knicks success against the Cavs in the regular season, and New York has been one of the more impressive teams in the league in the past few months. That said, the Cavaliers have been in that time in their own right, and Cleveland still is a team that for much of the season, has been able to get crucial stops throughout games to spur on victories.
Looking at this matchup, there a few Cavs players, in particular, that should be in-line to really make their presences felt, and here, we’ll take a closer look at them.
3 Cavaliers who should feast vs. the Knicks – No. 1: Donovan Mitchell
The first player we’ll highlight is going to be a big shocker; it’s Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell has brought a different level of star power to the Cavaliers this season.
He’s had a career season, and has been even better than one probably would’ve expected throughout the year in his first year with Cleveland. He was named an All-Star starter for the first time after making the All-Star Game in his last three seasons with the Utah Jazz, and Mitchell has been the primary leader for a Cavs team that won 51 games in the regular season, and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2018.
Mitchell had also been on a big-time heater to close out the regular season, as he had four 40-point-games in his last four appearances for the Cavaliers, and had 42 points against New the Knicks in late March. The Knicks defeated the Cavs then, but Mitchell did have his share of success versus New York in the regular season, and with the way Mitchell has been playing since the All-Star break, one should be confident he’ll largely be on-point in the playoffs.
Mitchell’s three-level scoring is so difficult to account for, and to counter that, he should be able to generate plenty of quality looks for others, out of drives, pick-and-roll and/or in transition.
Generally speaking, with Mitchell’s postseason track record in mind, when it comes to his play, he should be set to put up big numbers. Even with a very capable defender in Quentin Grimes often likely on him, and plenty of attention to him overall, Mitchell is too talented of a player to not respond on the playoff stage.
The Cavs should be able to look to Mitchell to guide them, and with others involved with him, he should help set the tone.
3 Cavaliers who should feast vs. the Knicks – No. 2: Evan Mobley
Secondly, Evan Mobley could be in-line for plenty of success versus the Knicks.
As an aside, Mobley will likely have his share of matchups defensively in primary coverage against Julius Randle, provided Randle can go, regarding his ankle sprain. Mobley’s defensive workload in the playoffs will be a considerable one, either way, based on what he’s done throughout his two seasons on that end for Cleveland.
Even with that in mind, Mobley has shown steady growth on the offensive end in the second half of the regular season in Year 2, and post-All-Star break, he had 17.5 points per contest on 56.3 percent shooting in 20 appearances.
Mobley has been more assertive offensively in the past few months for the Cavaliers, and him getting stronger and more filled out has paid dividends in the paint and around the rim. What’s been especially been promising has been how Mobley has so effective in the paint in recent months, and both above and below the rim.
Mobley needs to more competent than he’s been of late on free throws, but with his fluidity, rolling improvements, cutting timing and mid-post capabilities, including with fadeaways, he could very well be a difficult player for New York to deal with. And let’s not discount continual evolution as a passer for the Cavaliers, which has been more prominent post-All-Star break.
Even with his inexperience in the playoffs, only being in his second season, with Mobley coming on in the second half of the year, he’s another Cav who could definitely feast against the Knicks. He’s had a ton of success in recent months versus a variety of matchups, and has the touch, on and off-ball skill set to get himself going against potentially Randle, Obi Toppin and/or others.
3 Cavaliers who should feast vs. the Knicks – No. 3: Jarrett Allen
Last but not least, Jarrett Allen should be primed for a quality series here against the Knicks. This season, Allen didn’t have quite the offensive splits he had last season, with the arrival of Mitchell, and with others feasibly involved more, as compared to the year prior.
Still, Allen averaged nearly a double-double at 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest, and his defensive impact was an immense one for Cleveland’s top-ranked defense.
What’s something to keep in mind pertaining to this Knicks matchup has been how Allen was very sharp in his two games against them in the regular season as well. Julius Randle was not involved in Cleveland’s last game versus New York, sure, but Allen was out then, too, and another outing versus them earlier in the season.
As we were getting into, the Fro had 15.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per outing in his two games against the Knicks this season, and Cleveland outscored New York by 20 points in those 65 minutes.
It was the regular season, and just two games, but it’s some more reason to be optimistic about this matchup, factoring in Allen’s chemistry with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, and his budding connection with Caris LeVert. Allen and Mobley had their share of big-to-big feeds to one another in recent months, too, and while he’s not Mobley as a passer, Allen has shown development over the course of his time with the Cavs as a ball-mover and decision-maker, particularly out of the short roll.
Allen did some miss time in the closing stretch of the season with an eye contusion and later a groin strain, but he did play a bit in Cleveland’s regular season finale, and seems ready to roll.
While Mitchell Robinson and former Cav Isaiah Hartenstein, his backup, are formidable rim protectors and paint defenders, both are players Allen, Mitchell and company could get into foul trouble. Either way, however, with Allen’s rolling and diving expertise, and his improved touch, this is a series where he should be primed for plenty of success.