Knicks Take Advantage of Shorthanded Cavs In Cleveland

Cleveland will have to wait at least one more night to get the revenge they've been seeking since April.

Playing without three of their top five scorers, the Cavs were no match for the Knicks, as New York cruised to a comfortable 109–91 victory on Tuesday night. Cleveland was missing Jarrett Allen (ankle bone bruise), Caris LeVert (hamstring) and Darius Garland (hamstring strain). They were also without backup point guard Ty Jerome (ankle sprain).

The Knicks evened their record at 2-2 with a well-balanced attack. Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson tied for team-high honors with 19 points apiece. RJ Barrett chipped in 16. But I think the game ball goes to New York's two-headed monster at center.

In last spring's 4-1 beatdown of the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs, Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein dominated the paint on both ends of the floor. After getting mopped by Mitch Rob for five games, Jarrett Allen surprisingly admitted: "The lights were brighter than expected."

Well, with Allen sidelined on Halloween night, the Cavs desperately needed Evan Mobley to step up, just as he had in Cleveland's previous contest when Mobley racked up 33 points and 14 rebounds vs. the Pacers on Saturday. However, the tag team of Robinson and Hartenstein gave Mobely fits, limiting him to just six points on 3-of-9 shooting. Cleveland was outscored by 19 points with Mobley on the floor (no other Cav posted a +/- below -12).

Despite not posting eye-popping individual stats, Robinson has been arguably the Knicks' most consistent all-around contributor over the first four games of the season. New York's offense (which carried them to countless victories in 2022-23) has struggled to find its rhythm early on. They currently rank 19th in the NBA in Offensive Efficiency, averaging just 106.5 points per 100 possessions.

However, the team's defense (which was subpar last season) ranks third in the league in DefEff. And Mitch Rob is a primary reason why. He's one of only three players in the NBA with more than five steals and more than five blocks (Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis are the other two). Robinson also leads the league in offensive rebounds.

And when Mitch Rob heads to the bench, Hartenstein can be relied upon to pick up the slack. In Tuesday's win, iHart accounted for 13 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one blocked shot in 23 minutes. He shot 5-of-10 from the floor and was 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. Through four games, he's averaging 16 points (on 63% shooting) and ten boards per-36 minutes.

And with the Cavs dealing with injury issues up and down their roster, it's important to point out that Hartenstein has not missed a single game since signing with the Knicks in July of 2022. He was one of only ten players to appear in all 82 games last season. If you include the 11 postseason games New York played last year and the first four games of 2023-24, iHart is up to 97 consecutive contests.

"Availability is the best ability" is a cliche often bandied about in NBA circles. And it seems clear the Knicks' front office greatly values this ability, which has become shockingly uncommon in today's NBA.

(On a related note, despite Adam Silver and the league office's much-publicized mandate that stars would be forced to suit up this season via the "player-participation policy," the number of players that have already missed games is alarming. Twelve former All-Stars all missed at least one contest: Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, James Harden, Khris Middleton, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Brandon Ingram.)

Other Takeaways and Knicks Notes:

🏀 Immanuel Quickley bounced back with a solid showing vs. Cleveland, tallying 18 points (6-of-11 FGs, 3-of-3 FTs), three rebounds, two assists, and three 3-pointers in 24 minutes… Randle continues to shoot poorly (5-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the stripe) but did chip in 19 points and 10 rebounds… Brunson scored 19 points (7-of-16 FGs, 4-of-5 FTs) to go along with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one 3-pointer in 34 minutes. He was a game-high +21…

🏀 RJ Barrett scored 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He forced a few shots at the rim (zero assists on the night), but his three-point stroke looks smooth. He was 3-of-5 from downtown and 3-of-4 from the FT line. Impressively, Barrett is one of four players in the NBA shooting above 40% from downtown and above 80% from the stripe (minimum 20+ FT attempts and 20+ 3PT attempts). The other three are Steph Curry, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.

RJ has also done an excellent job of pushing the ball into the lane and getting out in transition. He is one of only three players in the NBA with 20+ fast-break points and 30+ points in the paint.

🏀Unfortunately, we'll have to keep saying it: Get Grimes more shots. The Knicks shooting guard attempted just four shots last night. His Usage Rate this season now sits at a paltry 11.3%. That's unacceptable. Eight different Knicks have more than 100 touches this season. Grimes is NOT one of them.

I've seen fans say QG needs to be more aggressive and force up shots when he does get his hands on the rock, but he's too unselfish and too well-coached to go that route.

Look at this play early in the third quarter. NY's runs a RARE dribble-handoff set out of Horns to get Grimes the ball. Instead of settling for a contested jumper, QG attacks the paint. Once he gets to the dotted, instead of settling for a floater, he dishes to Robinson for an easy two.

🏀 Next Up: New York hosts the Cavs tonight at MSG on the second night of a back-to-back for both clubs. The health of Garland, Allen and LeVert is obviously crucial in this matchup. As of noon today, Cleveland has not yet submitted their injury report, so we are still waiting to see if Cleveland gets any of their key contributors back in the lineup.

It's worth noting that the Knicks play the Cavs just three times this season (with two of those games coming within 24 hours of each other). They don't square off again until early March. So, while it's rarely worth considering the final standings and playoff matchups on the first day of November, the Knicks could clinch a season-series tie-breaker over Cleveland with a win this evening. As we know, these two clubs were the fourth and fifth seeds last year, with the Cavs holding homecourt.

Also, while the Knicks were great on the road in 2022-23 (including the playoffs), they were nearly as dominant at home as they would have liked. They are 0-1 at the Garden this season after dropping their home opener to Boston. With a pair of tough games on the horizon (in Milwaukee on Friday and vs. the Clippers next Monday, in what will likely be James Harden's LA debut), securing a victory tonight at MSG takes on added importance.

🏀 Around the Association: Let me wrap things up with some quick thoughts on the Sixers-Clippers deal that sent Harden to Los Angeles. Bottom line: I thought it was a good trade for Philly. First and foremost, dumping Harden was addition by subtraction. He was a dark, brooding cloud hanging over the franchise. I didn't envision any way they'd enjoy significant success this season as long as his toxicity was muddying the waters.

In addition, the Sixers got solid value in return, considering how far Harden's stock had dropped. They picked up a few quality vets that can help them this season (Nicolas Batum, Marcus Morris and Robert Covington), as well as young high-flier KJ Martin. Just as importantly, each of the four players they acquired has an expiring contract.

Philly is projected to have north of $50 million in cap space next summer, allowing Daryl Morey to shop for a top-tier free agent to pair alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

The Sixers also acquired two first-round picks, a pick swap, and two second-round picks in the Harden deal. So, if Morey cannot sign a stud FA, he will try to use that cap space and his draft capital to trade for one.

Thus, I think Knicks fans should be bummed about the deal. Not only does the removal of Harden make it less likely that Embiid demands a trade, but it also improves Philly's ability to compete against the Knicks should the two clubs both pursue the same disgruntled superstar at some point.