Just over 24 hours after one of their worst losses of the year, the Knicks rebounded with one of their best wins, 92-81 over the contending Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell, the Elmsford, N.Y., native who team president Leon Rose failed to acquire in prolonged trade talks with the Jazz over the summer, was limited to 23 points on 22 shots. His All-Star running mate, Darius Garland, managed just 17 points on 19 shots. Cleveland was held to a season-low in points and shot just 8 of 35 from 3-point range, a defensive weakness for the Knicks most of this season.Defense won this game, because the Knicks weren’t at their best offensively.
Jalen Brunson scored a team-high 23 points, and put the game away with a clutch jumper that extended the lead to seven with 1:55 to go. He then set up Julius Randle for a layup and he hit two free throws. RJ Barrett added 15 points and Immanuel Quickley had 12 off the bench. The first half followed a similar pattern: The Knicks start well. They build a lead. Then, they fall apart. They held the cold-shooting Cavaliers to 16 first-quarter points. Cleveland missed six of its first 32 shots and were behind by as many as 18 after a Brunson three-point play capped a 14-2 run.Like Saturday’s loss to the Mavericks, the game flipped. The Cavaliers hit 10 of their next 13 shots, and only trailed by three points at the break.
It was a rough opening half for Barrett, who missed seven of eight shots, all four of his 3-point attempts and committed five turnovers. The best Knick was Brunson. He produced a 15-point half. The Knicks followed that up with a much better third quarter, after getting smoked, 41-15, by the Mavericks on Saturday coming out of halftime. They put together a 13-4 run to push the lead back to 12 and took an eight-point edge into the final quarter. Barrett and Randle produced 21 of the team’s 25 points in the stanza, with Barrett shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Knicks snap 5-game home losing streak with win over CavaliersJalen Brunson scored 23 points and the Knicks snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 92-81 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night. NewYorkForever
Read more »
Mitchell scores 34, Cavaliers top Magic 107-96Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points and Evan Mobley had 19 points and 13 rebounds, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 107-96 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
Read more »