The Cleveland Cavaliers rolled into hostile territory Friday for Game 3 of the quarterfinal and got humiliated. At Madison Square Garden, the hosts neutralized Cleveland’s attack by baiting the visitors to play quicker than they were accustomed to for half the match.
Cleveland’s top performers couldn’t bail out the squad either. The final scorecard read 99-79. Below are four takeaways that illuminate the embarrassing night for the Cavaliers.
No. 1: Caris LeVert’s impact was a mixed bag
Caris LeVert started in place of Isaac Okoro, which was to be expected coming in, and guarded Jalen Brunson, holding him to zero makes in three tries during the first half. JB tried to shake #3 off with a jab-step but was forced into a well-contested misfire in the left corner. Isolation didn’t work against LeVert’s length either; Brunson couldn’t dribble past him twice at the elbow, so he clanked a couple of jumpers.
New York sagged off the corners to wall up the paint on Cleveland’s dribble drives. LeVert was left open on three of these possessions and was off-target each time.
When he had the ball, Caris was baited into two ill-advised attempts by Immanuel Quickley. He missed on a leaning pull-up 13-foot jumper and on a step-back triple on the left wing when IQ hovered around him.
In the first half, he logged a donut on the stat sheet but contributed two dimes, two rebounds and disruptive defense. In the last 24 minutes, LeVert emerged from the Lazarus Pit as the road team’s most potent offensive player, recording seven out of 11 field goals.
When the Knicks helped off the corners again, #3 punished them twice. At the top of the key, he hoisted a shot over four tentacles for his fourth straight make to start the period.
While Cleveland was down 16 points early in the fourth quarter, LeVert was still in attack mode. He led the team in scoring (6) and minutes (8) in the last frame, but Cleveland was offset by New York shooting 50% from the field and deep in the span.