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01/24/2023: The Cavaliers hit the road as they visit the legendary New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Cavaliers will be attempting to hit the 30-win mark tonight against the 25-23 Knicks who are on a 4-game losing streak and are looking to get back on track and continue their playoff hopes.
New York is led by the trio of Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, and RJ Barrett, these are three very talented players who can all beat you in a variety of ways, so the Cavaliers need to lay down the defense tonight if they want to win the game.
1st Quarter:
The Knicks came out hot, starting the game 8-2 after two triples by Julius Randle and it helped the Knicks that the Cavs were missing shots early, but they kept their composure and strung together a couple quick baskets. By the first timeout the Knicks were up 4 after another 3-Pointer by Julius Randle and a Quentin Grimes layup.
The 1st quarter continued to be hard fought but at the 2:30 mark the Knicks were still up by four after Julius Randle hit two more threes. By the end of the quarter the Knicks held a 34-27 lead behind 17 from Randle and 9 from Barrett, the Cavs were led by Mitchell’s 7.
2nd Quarter:
The Cavs got a couple quick buckets including 3 free throw attempts by Caris LeVert after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. However, the Knicks continued their fantastic play and within the first three minutes they had a 10 point lead.
The Cavs went on a nice little run towards the half and had the game within 2 points with a minute left and that’s how the half ended, with the Knicks leading by 2, even after an impressive 2nd quarter by the Cavs, at one point they were trailing by 13 points but they stayed resilient and rallied back.
3rd Quarter:
The Cavs started the second half on a 7-0 run which caused the Knicks Coach, Tom Thibodeaux to call a timeout, and soon enough, the Knicks went on a 5-0 run of their own and tied the game at 58, 5 minutes into the quarter.
The Cavs clearly wanted to win this game but the Knicks wouldn’t go away, and after multiple lead changes, the Cavs were up 3 points with 2 minutes left in the quarter. The Knicks got scoring sparks from Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes who were both quiet in the first half of the game. Julius Randle hit two more threes which got him to 30 points and gave the Knicks an 80-75 lead going into the 4th.
4th Quarter:
The Knicks continued their momentum from the previous quarter and before we knew it, New York had a 91-80 lead behind 2 free throws and a bucket by RJ Barrett and a little bit of everything from Immanuel Quickley. The Cavs just kept fighting and fighting and the Knicks only held a 93-91 lead.
Julius Randle and Donovan Mitchell were trading buckets and it was extremely entertaining. With 4 minutes left and the Knicks up 2, it looked like this game was going down to the wire and the last couple possessions.
Julius Randle drilled his 8th 3-pointer and they were up 3 with a minute to go, then Isaiah Hartenstein came up with a huge block on Mitchell. The Knicks were then up 5 with 41 seconds to go, but a Darius Garland 3-point play made it just a 2 point game. The Cavs got the last possession down 2 and we’re not able to convert on multiple shots, the game ended 105-103 in favor of the New York Knicks.
Notable Performances:
Knicks:
Julius Randle: 36 Pts, 13 Reb, 4 Ast
11/21 FG, 8/12 3PT, 6/7 FT
RJ Barrett: 16 Pts
Immanuel Quickley: 9 Pts, 5 Reb, 6 Ast
Cavs:
Jarrett Allen: 24 Pts, 12 Reb, 12/17 FG
Darius Garland: 22 Pts, 5 Reb, 6 Ast
6/17 FG
Donovan Mitchell: 24 Pts, 7 Reb, 8 Ast
9/24 FG, 6/14 3PT
