3 dangerous Knicks that could put Cleveland Cavaliers on upset alert

No. 3: Immanuel Quickley

It’s debatable on RJ Barrett here, but Immanuel Quickley may be a more potent offensive threat in this series to deal with in his minutes off the bench.

Quickley has been great for New York in his third year as a scorer off the bench predominantly. He’s had 14.9 points per contest this season, in an average of 28.9 minutes.

Quickley is a player that is a dangerous shooter if he gets going both in an on and off-ball sense. He converted on 37.0 of his 5.6 three-point attempts per game in the regular season, and he demonstrated marketed improvements as a scorer inside the arc this year, as he hit by far a career-best 52.1 percent of his two-point attempts.

Quickley was seventh in the NBA in total points in the regular season among bench players at 735 points in those instances. And his versatility and craftiness were crucial factors for him leading the league’s bench players in total plus-minus this season at plus-254, per NBA.com.

In his minutes, Quickley’s multi-faceted offensive game makes him a player that Cleveland has to stay attached to or right near as a catch-and-shoot threat, but also the Cavs have him accounted for in pick-and-roll situations. He’s well-versed in that aspect, and despite being score-first Quickley is a combo guard who has proven he can be a solid distributor as well, so Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Darius Garland and Cleveland have to be cognizant of that.

If Quickley gets especially hot in several games, it could spell doom for the Cavaliers in this series. They have to make things difficult for him, but not bail him out with fouls, particularly on jumpers.