NCAA Tournament, Knicks, Nets, Rose

Knicks Versus Cavaliers Playoff Preview

Now that the NBA season has officially come to a close, the fifth seeded New York Knicks are set to take on the fourth seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the playoffs. Game one of the series will begin on April 15th at 6 p.m. est. in Cleveland.

For New York, there is still the question mark of Julius Randle's health coming into the playoffs. Randle was seen without his protective boot on his foot in the season finale against the Pacers, so it appears that Randle is still on track to return for game one. There still needs to be a re-evaluation in a few days, however all signs right now point to Randle being ready by the start of the series.

The Knicks and Cavs played each other four times throughout the regular season.  In doing so, the two teams split the games with each team winning twice and losing twice. Although all but one game was decided by double digits, each game was competitive regardless of the eventual victor.

Pace Of Play

One of the most important factors in this series will be who can control the pace of play. The Cavaliers surprisingly ranked dead last in the entire league in pace, but that is actually by design. Although the team has arguably the best backcourt pair in the league with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, the team is far more focused on defense.

The Cavs can do this because they also have one of the best frontcourt duos in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Allen plays the prototypical center role defensively although both players have the size to play down low. Mobley in particular has been invaluable to the team as he has proven the ability to guard the perimeter and the interior at an elite level.

This duo has been so great defensively that the Cavs opted to play offense at the slowest pace in the league to benefit the defense. Throughout the series, viewers will watch a lot of Mitchell and Garland isolations with shots coming deep into the shot clock. The offense for the Cavs will rely heavily on the duo to score in the halfcourt consistently as they have done all season long.

Interestingly enough, the Knicks also have one of the slowest paces in the league as they ranked 26th. All season long, New York has relied upon Jalen Brunson and Randle to play isolation ball and beat their defenders. That strategy may not be the best idea against the Cavs though.

As previously noted, Mobley has become one of the best and most versatile defenders in the NBA this season. He will most likely draw the defensive assignment on Randle all series long. Mobley's defensive skillset may be best suited against Randle's offensive playstyle as Mobley has the ability to guard Randle at the three-point line as well as contest any of his shots in the paint.

It is also likely that Brunson will be drawing a tough assignment this series. Isaac Okoro has been injured, but appears likely to be back for the playoffs. He is easily the best perimeter defender for Cleveland and if he is healthy come playoff time, he should see a lot of minutes guarding Brunson.

With these matchups, the Knicks will have to speed up their pace of play to counter the Cavs style. If New York keeps the same pace they have the whole season, that will play right into the Cavs hands. The team must be willing to move the ball and run in transition so the Cavs big men are unable to get setup defensively. If New York is successful in doing this, it will probably take Allen out of the game in crunch time, which would be a huge advantage for the Knicks.

Knicks' Depth Is Key

When comparing starting lineups, the Cavs have a pretty clear advantage. However, the Cavs bench is one of the weaker units in the league and compared to the Knicks astounding depth, the Cavs bench is completely outmatched. Because of this, winning the few minutes Mitchell is off the court will be a necessity of New York wants to make it past the first round.

With the way Immanuel Quickley, Josh Hart, Obi Toppin and Isaiah Hartenstein have played recently, it seems like a given that the Knicks will win those minutes. Quickley has been astounding in his sixth man role all season long, Hart has been the perfect role player, Toppin seems to have developed some confidence in the few games Randle has missed and Hartenstein has been a consistent backup to Mitchell Robinson all year.

The real X-factor this series will be RJ Barrett. Barrett has struggled this year to find consistency as he has been relegated to more of a third option offensively. This series though, Barrett should be seeing some extremely favorable matchups while on offense. It will most likely be one of Mitchell or Garland guarding him, and either of those matchups presents a big opportunity to Barrett.

Barrett has a five-inch height advantage on both guards, so getting open looks should be easier than usual. This matchup also serves some purpose to attack as it will make the Cavs main source of offense expend more energy than usual on defense. New York would be smart to attack these guys defensively, as the way the Cavs play offense already makes the duo work harder than most teams star players.

This series has the potential to be one of the closest series in the entire playoffs. These two teams are incredibly evenly matched, so the difference will come down to which team can execute their gameplan better. Both teams will undoubtedly be looking to control the pace of this game, and at the end of this series the team who controlled pace will most likely come out on top.