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.
No. 2: Cavaliers were ineffective from long-range in the first half
At intermission, New York was up 45-32. Over 45% of Cleveland’s shot attempts were 3-pointers (19), and the visitors made just two, courtesy of Spida and Okoro.
Over a handful of Cleveland’s misses were open-enough looks that usually zip through the nylon. On the other fruitless attempts, New York closed out to shooters on time or stayed in front of the ball handler to force a pull-up.
RJ Barrett got through Evan Mobley’s pin down to bother Cedi Osman’s wing jumper. Josh Hart raced from below the rim to the corner to hassle Danny Green’s vain trifecta. Darius Garland couldn’t get Obi Toppin to bite on his fake at the key and took a tough shot over a much-taller man.
In round one, the Knicks have primarily defended pick-and-roll in drop coverage. In one sequence in quarter one, Mitchell Robinson switched onto Spida and blocked a 25-foot jump shot coming off a pick.
Through 24 minutes, Cleveland’s starting backcourt made one out of 10 triples. In the second half, the Cavaliers converted 35.7% of deep looks. LeVert was the only teammate to record more than one 3-pointer (3).
No. 3: Cavaliers fall behind playing at a quicker pace in the first half
Neither of these clubs is recognized for consistently boat racing opponents down the floor, but New York pushed the pace in the first half to a 102-rating. The tempo resulted in the hosts taking three more shots in the period, despite Cleveland recovering three more offensive rebounds.
Operating at this speed, the Cavaliers made just 31% of attempts and 10% of 3-point tries.
No. 4: Brunson was the best guard on the floor
On Friday, JB had his most efficient night of the series, and bounced back after a forgettable Game 2, dropping 21 points on 55% shooting without any going in from behind the arc (0-of-4). Aside from some difficulty LeVert showed when matched up, Brunson beat defenders off the dribble and got down the court for a fastbreak jam.
In the third quarter, he cooked LeVert by getting to the elbow to fire away, then DG and Spida with a turnaround bucket from midrange and a floater over Okoro in the paint.
Brunson even dissected the Cavaliers’ defense with six assists, two coming in the fourth quarter. He was respected so much in pick-and-roll that three backline defenders gave up the baseline when JB beat LeVert into the lane. Hartenstein received the bounce pass for the slam. On his last dime, Cleveland was in a 2-3 zone with three defenders around Brunson. He then found Toppin in the weak side corner for a banger to extend New York’s lead to 18 points.
Final words…
With Game 4 on Sunday in New York, it has become a must-win affair for the Cavaliers. Going down 3-1 is not a death sentence, but it might as well may be for a young outfit without much experience.
With the Cavaliers’ back against the spikes, we’ll learn Sunday what this team is really made of.