Following a difficult game two in Cleveland, the Knicks came ready to play game three back in New York. New York held Cleveland under 80 points in a 99-79 victory. It was the first time all season that any team was held under 80 points, and the first Cleveland loss by 20 plus points this season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Knicks' Defense Astounds
In game two, Cleveland caught New York a little off guard by having a more spread out offensive attack rather than a Donovan Mitchell centered offense. Multiple Cleveland players were able to get a rhythm, as Darius Garland scored 32 points, Caris LeVert scored 24 and Evan Mobley scored 17. Game three would be a completely different story, though.
Clearly Tom Thibodeau had a plan for Cleveland's different style of offense, as in game three New York played their best defense of the entire season. The Knicks had 14 steals as a team, and they used those turnovers to fuel 28 points for the offense. The points off turnovers difference ended up being the same difference as the total score difference (28-8).
Even with an astounding 14 steals, the paint defense was just as impressive as the perimeter defense. As a team, the Knicks had five blocks with Mitchell Robinson accounting for two of them. Robinson had a phenomenal defensive game as along with the blocks, he had two steals and seven rebounds. He also had some interesting comments on whether or not the Cavs were hesitant in the paint against him.
Mitchell Robinson has some thoughts on the Cavaliers getting rattled in the paint 🥶 pic.twitter.com/LACIETHDCv
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 22, 2023
Aside from the steals and blocks, New York did an excellent job of contesting shots throughout the entire game. In the first half alone, Cleveland shot a handful of air-balls. For the game, Cleveland shot a dreadful 38.8 percent from the field and 21.2 percent from three. They also only shot 58.8 percent from the free throw line.
Knicks' Offense Does Enough
The New York offense was not exciting anyone in game three, but it did to the job needed considering the defensive effort being put forward. The Knicks shot a solid 47 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from the three point line. Turnovers were still a bit of a problem as they had 14, however they held the Cavs to only eight points off turnovers.
Jalen Brunson bounced back from his 5-17 performance in game two, as he scored 21 points on a much more efficient 10-18 from the field. He also chipped in six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Unfortunately, Julius Randle has continued to struggle to find his shot since returning from injury as he scored 11 points on 3-15 from the field and 2-10 from three.
The good news for New York is they are up in the series even with Randle having difficulty shooting the ball. However, it seems unlikely that they can win the series with Randle continuing to struggle this way. It may serve New York better to try to get Randle more opportunities off the catch, as the defensive matchup of Evan Mobley is a difficult one to go at consistently.
Bright Lights
As always in New York, there will be a question of how the environment of the MSG crowd will impact a playoff series. A few years ago, it arguably hurt the Knicks as Trae Young thrived off of the villain role and clearly took joy in silencing the crowd.
On the other hand, young Cleveland players looked rattled, while the young New York players seemed to benefit from the home crowd. Coming off of a great game two, Garland may have had the worst game of his career in game three. He scored10 points on a mere 4-21 from the field and 1-7 from three. Throughout the regular season, Garland was the clear second hand man to Mitchell, but so far he has struggled to find consistency in these first three games and it was clear the environment had an impact on his game.
For the Knicks, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley seemed to find comfortability on their homecourt. Barrett and Quickley both struggled severely in the two games in Cleveland. New York needed these two to step up in game three to take some of the pressure off of Brunson and Randle, and the pair did just that.
Barrett played a great game in all facets. He scored 19 points on an efficient 8-12 from the field and 3-6 from three, while also having eight rebounds and three assists. Barrett also did an excellent job of pushing the ball in the fast break, as he had six points in the fast break. Attacking Cleveland in the fast break can be incredibly effective as much of the Cleveland success defensively relies on them playing halfcourt defense with their two big men back and crowding the paint.
Quickley scored 11 points on 4-6 from the field and 2-3 from three. He also had a game high +27 plus/minus rating. Getting the win is obviously the first priority, but also getting Barrett and Quickley going offensively was an enormous need. With their game three performances, that issue may have been solved.
New York will look to take a 3-1 series lead Sunday in the Garden.
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