The New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-104 in overtime in Game 1. The Cavaliers, who had advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in eight years by bouncing back from terrible losses, blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead.
“We lost, we f****** blew it,” Donovan Mitchell said afterward.
Cavs’ Defence a Key Positive Despite the Loss
The Cavaliers’ defence was a positive, despite the loss. Cleveland’s defence on Karl-Anthony Towns was excellent, especially when the Cavs had two bigs on the floor.
Evan Mobley provided on-ball pressure with Jarrett Allen off-ball at the rim, short-circuiting Towns’s playmaking. Allen as the primary defender on Josh Hart also proved beneficial. The defence dared Hart to beat them off the dribble or with the three-ball, but he went 1-5 from three and finished with the worst plus/minus of anyone in Game 1 at -23.
Cheating off Hart can be risky because of what he can provide as an offensive rebounder. The Cavs did a good job of not losing track of him in these situations. Having two rim protectors, one to cheat off Hart and clog the paint, and one to guard Towns, worked perfectly.
Limiting Outside Looks
The Knicks struggled to generate many outside looks. The Cavs limited the Knicks to just 32 outside looks, which translated to a third of their shot attempts (24th percentile). New York converted just 62.5% of their looks in the restricted area.
It was their work on this end that led to their 22-point lead.
Offensive Positives for Cleveland
Offensively, Donovan Mitchell had much more space to operate compared to the previous two seasons. This allowed him to get to the paint more easily, especially during the second and third quarters when the Cavs were playing their best.
Cleveland’s bigs showed that they could be impactful in the paint. Allen was impactful as an offensive rebounder and he grabbed six second-chance points.
Being able to bounce back from terrible losses has allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in eight years. They’ll need to do so again after they inexplicably blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime to the New York Knicks, 115-104, in Game 1.