After going 4-0 in the regular season last year against the Knicks, Cleveland dropped it’s opener in the Garden, 119-111. The story of this game was free throws, focus, and rebounding. The Knicks were more focused (Cavs fouled four three point shooters in the first half), were much better on the glass (48-32 rebound advantage), and then played refball down the stretch as Brunson repeatedly grifted his way into iso free throws (as I called before the game). Still, you can’t spot a team 15 points in the first half on their home court, especially an NBA darling like the Knicks.
Donovan Mitchell and Sam Merrill had monster second halves, helping the Cavs briefly go up 1 in the fourth with 23 and 16 respectively, while Mobley dropped 22/8/3 on the night. Jarrett Allen was soft a triple ply Charmin, Jalen Tyson was shaky as hell in his first start in the bright lights, CPJ no-showed, and Tyrese Proctor looked like a player unafraid of the big city in his NBA regular season debut. OG Anunoby started his quest for DPOY with a 24/14/2 line with three stocks, while Brunson scored 23 on 13 (mostly bullshit free throws). It was a frustrating loss with some bright spots, and as some commenters noted, the Cavs were missing 50 ppg worth of injured players.
Nate Smith and Chris Francis may a long overdue return the podcast booth to break it all down and go around the NBA with some instant reactions, over-under win total predictions, and a look forward to the coming six games in nine days stretch for the wine and gold.
As always, catch us below, download the full audio file, or listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, or Spotify.
Powered by RedCircle