Many seemed to be banging their heads against the proverbial wall after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ clunker on Saturday evening in Game 1 of their first round series versus the New York Knicks.
Cleveland conceded 17 offensive rebounds to New York in that one, including 10 of those boards in the fourth quarter alone. In the contest, the Knicks’ offensive rebounding efforts led to them having 23 second chance points. On the season, Cleveland gave up 12.1 second chance points per outing, which was fourth-best in the Association.
Credit has to go to New York. The Knicks were one of the league’s top rebounding teams in the NBA this season, and that included on the offensive glass. Coming into the game and the series, it was apparent Cleveland had to limit New York in that aspect. In the first contest, the Cavaliers did not do so nearly enough in crucial moments, and they paid for it.
In the same breadth, the Cavs were not exactly lighting it up offensively, either. Cleveland only mustered 45 points in the first half, and their offensive rating was a ghastly 90.0 through 24 minutes. In the first half, Cleveland shot just four-of-18 from three-point range, 22.2 percent.
The Cavaliers did have some more meaningful ball movement in the second half, and they connected on six-of-13 from three then, a 46.2 percent hit rate. But it’s not as if they were crushing it offensively then, either, and had it not been for heroics from Donovan Mitchell, who had 38 points, the offense would’ve had an even more lackluster performance.
So, when looking at Game 2 and onward, what could help turn things around in the Cavaliers’ favor?
In this Knicks series and hopefully moving forward, it’s going to take a mix of will and skill for these Cavaliers to play at their best.
Saturday’s game was far from Cleveland’s best, and it wasn’t for New York, either. From a Cavs’ standpoint, in this case, it’d be sensible to potentially get Cedi Osman more burn earlier on, given how he did provide a jolt, and if that’s essentially for Ricky Rubio, so be it.
Dean Wade could seemingly factor into the rotation for defensive purposes for Isaac Okoro in stretches as well, or maybe Lamar Stevens for a couple of spurts in upcoming games. Stevens has been able to provide energy for Cleveland, and both he and Wade can aid Cleveland’s efforts on the glass.
Stevens could possibly be a viable option for spurts at the 4 if Jarrett Allen gets a breather with Evan Mobley at the 5. That could give the Cavs a different look, and could potentially add a tertiary driver in the mix here and there.
Caris LeVert is going to warrant minutes, regardless, and when he’s in games, the Cavaliers are going to need more from him, simply put. LeVert was one-of-seven from the field in Game 1, and zero-of-three from three-point land, and in 18 minutes, was a minus-14.
However, even with him off, some of the misses from LeVert appeared to be a case of the jitters, and while he has had inconsistencies this season, LeVert was much more effective post-All-Star break. So there’s reason to believe he can rebound. LeVert’s skill set as a ball handler and quality passer has proven meaningful throughout the regular season as well, which can help get Cleveland’s bigs more involved, and/or open up quality skip feeds to key shooters.
When it comes to the shooting element, Mitchell is going to get those, obviously, and the Cavaliers need Darius Garland to be more assertive in some spots, to get himself going and the team some juice if needed. But for an alternative option in the rotation, Cleveland might have to toss Danny Green in there in upcoming games for supplemental shooting, despite him not having much play at all with the Cavs in the closing stretch of the regular season.
Green has shot 38.9 percent from deep in his 165-game playoff career, and has won three NBA titles, so to aid the Cavs’ spacing, that might be a sensible move in Game 2 and onward, if he can establish a rhythm.
Cedi Osman, however, is involved in that discussion, feasibly. So, we’ll have to see how that shakes out.
For the Wine and Gold to re-establish momentum in this Knicks series, both ends of course have to be in play, and overall, it’s going to take a mix of will and skill for the team to get back on the right track. Hopefully, the Cavaliers play with more fortitude and urgency from here, including the four core guys, and paired with that, they’ll clearly need more respectable shooting/finishing than they had in Game 1.