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The NBA Playoffs are back in Cleveland for the first time since 2018 the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted a playoff game. This time however there is no LeBron James on the team, which also marks for the franchise, the first time making the playoffs without James in over 20 years.
The game started off hot with the Cavs and Knicks trading baskets back and forth then the Knicks with the help of star Julius Randle pulled away with a 12-point lead, and for the Cavs, it was an uphill battle from there on out.
The Cavs entered the fourth quarter down by eight, and with Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs were up by two with under two minutes to go, but a late offense rebound for the Knicks propelled the Knicks to a four-point lead after clutch free throws and the Cavs lost the first game of the best seven series to the Knicks by a final score of 101-97.
The stars for the Knicks today were Randle and Jalen Brunson, to the start of the game it was Randle who was the one taking over the game, but overall he finished the game with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks that helped them secure the victory in game one.
In the second half, it was Brunson who took over the game late, finishing the game with 27 points for the Knicks, including some late-game heroics.
The bench was a storyline for this game with the Knicks bench outscoring the Cavs bench 30 to 9, the leader for the Knicks bench was Josh Hart, Hart who was acquired by the Knicks at the trade deadline and finished the game with 17 points.
The star for the Cavs in the losing effort was Mitchell, Mitchell in his Cavalier playoff debut finished the game with 38 points and had 8 assists to go in the game. Mitchell kept the Cavs in the game when they were down by double digits late in the second half, and was the main reason why the team had a late lead in the game.
Darius Garland made his NBA playoff debut today, and scored 17 points in today’s loss for the Cavs. Garland also only had 1 assist in the loss.
The big men for the Cavs, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen struggled to get it going tonight, with missing layups and allowing offensive rebounds, it will be a note for head coach JB Bickerstaff to try to figure out for game two.
Cedi Osman also played meaningful minutes late in the game where he was guarding Brunson one on one, Osman held his own it was the big men allowing the Knicks to get second-chance points.
Game two is Tuesday at 7:30 in downtown Cleveland, the Cavs will need to improve on foul shooting and allowing second- chance points if they hope to be tied 1-1 heading back to New York for games three and four.
