[news.google.com] — Saturday, April 15, 2023 7:25:50 AM
Knicks Begin First-Round Series vs. Cavs in Cleveland The Knicks Wall
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Cheapest tickets for Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks Game 1 NBA playoffs tonight in Cleveland cleveland.com
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Cavs playoffs 2023: Donovan Mitchell facing Knicks comes full circle Akron Beacon Journal
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[news.google.com] — Saturday, April 15, 2023 2:26:00 AM
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) New York Knicks: 2023 NBA first-round playoff preview Yahoo SportsSources – Knicks’ Julius Randle targets Sat. return vs. Cavs ESPNNBA playoff preview and tips: New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers Yahoo Eurosport UK
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 11:10:00 PM
Isaac Okoro questionable for Game 1 of playoffs against New York Knicks cleveland.com
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 10:48:00 PM
Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell on facing hometown New York Knicks in playoffs: ‘Full-circle moment’ WKYC.com
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 7:20:22 PM
Two York! Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley Land NBA Award Nominations Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 7:05:07 PM
New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers | How to watch on TV and stream online, NBA AS USA
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 7:04:00 PM
Josh Hart’s two-word response to Donovan Mitchell’s Round 1 hype video: F–k you New York Post
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 7:00:00 PM
NBA Rumors: Knicks’ hated rival could be next star on trade block Daily Knicks
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 6:53:23 PM
Derrick Rose surprisingly now New York Knicks x-factor ahead of NBA playoffs for 1 major reason Sportsnaut
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 6:25:58 PM
NBA Playoffs, USFL Season Kickoff: What’s On This Weekend in TV … Next TV
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 5:56:10 PM
Report: Knicks’ Julius Randle to rejoin lineup for Game 1 vs. Cavaliers NBA.comCleveland seeking revenge on New York in Knicks-Cavaliers series New York Post (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) New York Knicks: 2023 NBA first-round playoff preview Yahoo Sports
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 5:09:38 PM
How the Knicks have used offensive rebounding to turn into a top-five offense The Strickland
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 4:32:28 PM
Draft Strickland: Season 3 Ep. 11 The Strickland
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 4:28:00 PM
How Cleveland Cavaliers fans will be watching Saturday’s Game 1 … WKYC.com
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 2:12:00 PM
NBA’s light punishment for Mavericks tanking hurts Knicks’ NBA draft chances New York Post
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 2:09:20 PM
Mavericks’ Anti Knicks Tanking Gambit Lands $750,000 Fine Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 2:01:27 PM
Mavericks fined $750,000 for resting players in elimination game with Knicks draft pick implications Yahoo Sports
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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Can … WKYC.com
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[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 11:12:52 AM
Sources – Knicks’ Julius Randle targets Sat. return vs. Cavs ESPN
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 11:11:29 AM
Derrick Rose Could Have Special Role in Knicks’ Playoff Run Sports Illustrated
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 10:43:47 AM
Evan Mobley & Jarrett Allen Called Out by Mitchell Robinson Ahead of Cavs-Knicks Heavy.com
[news.google.com] — Friday, April 14, 2023 7:57:43 AM
Knicks Could Blockbuster Trade For Wizards’ Bradley Beal NBA Analysis Network
45 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2023.04.15)”
Brunson vs Spida Round 2
Knicks vs the player they failed to acquire
You can’t script this matchup
I kinda wish there was an option to watch Stephen smith watch this game. Like you could turn it on and off throughout the game. Just for the occassional laugh.
random weird fact marginally relevant to joe mazzulla getting more votes than thibs. in our surprise 20-21 year we averaged 3 points below the vegas/over under for the season. this is a big number, usually good for bottom 3 in the league (2nd lowest in 20-21). this year, we averaged +4.3 above it, easily highest in the league. have to wonder if that’s ever come close to happening before in such a short span for two outperforming playoff teams under the same coach.
Winning game 1 would be huge! Let’s do it, Knicks! 🙂
I think that Randle or no Randle, the key to this series is the Brunson-Mitchell matchup. I like the way that matchup looks for us. Mitchell needs to outplay Brunson by a very large margin for the Cavs to win. I like our options for bringing out “bad” Mitchell better than the Cavs’ options for bringing out “bad” Brunson.
If that matchup is relatively even…meaning that both players play largely to their per game averages…I think that we have enough subtle edges to get us to the finish line.
Other considerations:
-Randle’s experience, physicality and experience vs. Mobley’s length, finesse, and health. This seems like a wash to me.
-Mitch (and iHart) vs. Allen (and stagger of Mobley/Wade/Stevens?) Again, this seems like a wash. Although Allen has some offensive versatility over Mitch that worries me, iHart neutralizes some of that. This is where Julius being at full health might become an issue, as he could make PFs other than Mobley pay and cause Mobley to wear down.
-Garland vs. Grimes/IQ: I really like this aspect of how the teams match up. I’m not buying that CLE is as good defensively as their numbers suggest, and the biggest hole in their D is the Spida-Garland combo. I am hoping that IQ and Grimes are able to run that combo off of their preferred shots.
-Hart vs. Okoro: While I think we have the edge here, if Okoro is not 100%, this becomes a huge advantage for us. Even at full strength, I like Hart vs. Spida in crunch time more than I fear Okoro vs. Brunson.
-RJ vs. …RJ: Obviously he is a huge swing factor in this series. I truly have no idea what to expect from him, only that I hope that this week off has given him time to work out the kinks in his 3pt shot, which has looked horribly broken lately. I’m just not sure that Thibs will yank him unless he is truly awful, and a mediocre but not terrible RJ is a minus. Here’s to hoping that RJ is either “good” (preferred) or “so bad that Thibs yanks him.”
-Obi vs. Thibs: If Obi gets more than 10mpg it probably means that Randle is way less than 100%. Still, I’d like to see him continue to hit high-impact 3’s and get a transition bucket or two in his second-half minutes. Seems like the Hart bros have helped unlock some things for him.
Prediction: Gun to my head: Cavs in 7. Gut feeling: Knicks in 6 in very similar fashion to how the Mavs ousted the Jazz last year, largely on Brunson’s shoulders.
Correction: I should have included Caris LeVert in the discussion…he is sort of a rich man’s RJ…which guy will show up?
one more thing to watch for in the series. one of the cavs huge assets in general and specifically against us is being able to always have a big with significant defensive pluses on the court. and presumably one of allen or mobley will be out there at all times barring injury or foul trouble. but even if in the playoffs that will mean a good chunk of minutes without both of them together. and the cavs are a very different sort of defensive team with one only of them.
without allen, they are a legitimately bad defensive rebounding team — our greatest offensive strength. and we have good redundancy here. even if they try to time allen with mitch we are still a very good offensive rebounding team with ihart. it’s not even something we have to plan much for, though it would seemingly be a mistake to have our worst offensive rebounding units in during those stints (relatively more hart, quickley, randle less rj/grimes/brunson).
without mobley, they are not nearly as effective as a rim protecting team. they’re actually way below average in rim attempts per 100 without him despite having allen, and go from allowing one of the best rim fg% in the league to just mediocre. these are probably our best hope for useful rj offensive minutes and also perhaps trying to get the most out of the grimes/closeout and the grimes/i-hart back cut action.
i also think we should consider trying to tilt obi infused lineups against their twin tower lineups, as weird as this sounds. i am not too worried about mobley killing obi on offense (relative to general obi defense worries, anyway), and their defensive transition isn’t awesome with their main group. that might be our best moment to try to get some of our newly found fast breakitude with hart/obi/quick in tow. this last one probably won’t happen much, though, given the starting lineup realities.
I am hoping that IQ and Grimes are able to run that combo off of their preferred shots.
it will be interesting to see who thibs puts on garland. in the regular season, his first choice was usually rj on garland, even when rj and iq were in together. there were even stints when rj was out but thibs actually put iq on okoro and brunson on garland. iq did guard him a little and looked so so, but the cavs did not go after it much. iq is miles better as a help defender than rj, so i can sort of see thibs logic here, but rj did not look good trying to stick garland.
Hey, pt, who do you think wins the series? And who do you like in the finals? (You correctly predicted golden state at the beginning of the playoffs last year. Care to do it again?)
Interesting take, pt. I considered that when discussing Julius, but agree that it becomes more of a window for RJ when Mobley is out and for Hart when Allen is out. As to Obi vs. the twin towers lineup, his defense seems scary bad no matter what but maybe he is better suited to stay in front of long bigs than short wings. Nevertheless, if Julius is 100% I think the deep bench matchup to watch is Obi vs. Wade/Stevens, i.e. Obi won’t see a hot minute vs. the twin towers. If Randle can’t go for 30+, I would expect Obi to get targeted, and I would also expect that Sims might get a look in a counter twin towers lineup.
One thing that will be critical in this series is the whistle. I like our deep bench vs. the Cavs. And we have 4 guys in Randle, RJ, Brunson and IQ that can draw fouls in iso, and our bigs and Hart might draw fouls on Mobley and Allen. That could have a domino effect of unlocking our bench transition game. Conversely, if we get into foul trouble, we could throw Deuce, Sims and even Fournier out there…I don’t think the Cavs have that sort of depth. It probably won’t come into play, but if it does, it’s probably to our advantage.
donnie as you know i am strict montessori bohemian constrained only by severe neuroticism and anxiety and thus abide only three ethical prohibitions. never short a spac genuinely attempting to cure a terrible disease, however stupid the sponsors may be. never pick against the new york knicks even if only to call them a modest underdog. and never pick a certain team to win the nba title.
Fuck it, just put Randle on Garland
The key to the series is Grimes. If he is hitting his shots, then the Cavs have to extend their defense neutralizing their interior advantage and torpedoing whatever gameplanning they had in mind for Brunson and Julius. Plus, Quentin’s quick release causes fits for defenders who then tend to overcommit leaving other Knicks open.
pt, re: IQ and Grimes (and Hart and RJ I guess) vs. Garland, it’s ironic that we often worry about them being smallish but in this particular situation they actually have a defensive size advantage at their position.
The problem is how to hide Brunson. Brunson’s defense is probably my biggest worry going into this series. And that’s why I think he has to hold his own in the duel with Mitchell. It is sort of a given that Mitchell is gonna get his, so if Spida has something like a 45-25 scoring advantage over Brunson, that puts a ton of pressure on everyone else to make up for that gap. (This is not to imply that Brunson will be guarding Mitchell, but he will be on the floor most of the time and has to guard *someone*. Other than drawing charges, he’s really exploitable in pretty much every regard. He HAS to put up lots of points and/or assists for us to win.
William Goldman hat tip
For the record, I’m going with a Bucks-Suns finals and the Bucks prevailing in 6. The Bucks seem to have the most unlocked potential in the East, and they will have a chip on their shoulder after losing to the Celts last year. I mean I’d love to see the Celts lose earlier, and sure the Bucks could get shocked by the NEW YORK KNICKS, but that is the ECF I expect and it should be a doozy.
It will be interesting to see whether the all-in move for the T-Wolves has a delayed payoff. Is it impossible to imagine them knocking off Denver?
My biggest worry is Randle, his injury and his Randle-ness
“My biggest worry is Randle, his injury and his Randle-ness”
That’s fair. One would hope that the additions of Brunson and Hart, as well as the improvement of IQ and Grimes, will mitigate that somewhat. But yeah, it’s definitely worrisome on both counts.
cavs in six…and, I’m okay with that…knicks get less than 2 wins, I’ll be a bit disappointed…
anything more than 2 wins this post season will be gravy…
neurotics unite…although I imagine similar to the introverted folks, all the anxious and nervous folks will most likely bunker down alone…well, as alone as family and life will let you be…
I’m predicting nothing. I’m just going to enjoy the Knicks being in the playoffs again. Hopefully, no eggs are laid.
Go Knicks!
@Geo Funny you should mention this. I may lose a girlfriend over wanting to be alone tonight. I am definitely an introvert by nature.
Is there even a remote chance that Randle is close to 100%? Questionable usually means most likely out, isn’t it?
Celtics in 5
Sixers in 5
Kings in 7
Knicks in 7
Grizzlies in 6
Bucks in 5
Suns in 6
Nuggets in 4
Really interesting stuff pt, maybe we go to Hartenstein a little earlier than usual to make sure we can match the Mitch/non-Allen minutes?
Overall the Cavs are very good, but also very exploitable by a team with the Knicks’ strengths. They have more talent, so it may well come down to whether Mitchell can simply make none of the matchup minutiae matter.
He can definitely do that, so it’s on Thibs and co. to figure out how to make him work for it.
“Questionable” is a smokescreen that has no real meaning beyond “he’s very likely not 100%.” That said, I believe in this case it probably means “his ankle is still stiff and sore, and if this was the regular season he wouldn’t play, but given the stakes, if he can warm up and show decent lateral mobility without favoring or limping, it’s worth getting him some reps so that he isn’t rusty in game 2, especially with 3 days between games.”
Doubtfuleans most likely out. Questionable means it’s a coin flip, but these guys usually play (or maybe I’ve been following a Thibs team for too long).
For other teams, can questionable mean the player is getting a scheduled rest day but we want plausible deniability. Otherwise, I think they also tend to play that guy.
It’s quite possible that Beth Mowins and JJ Redick are the worst broadcasting crew to ever call an association playoff game.
Luckily, the game is also on YES, where Ian Eagle and Sarah Kustok are one of the best.
Celtics in 7
Sixers in 5
Warriors in 5
Cavs in 7 (reverse jinx!)
Lakers in 6
Bucks in 4
Suns in 6
Nuggets in 7
In other random observations:
1. Check of Lockervision shows almost the worst imaginable choice of uniforms among today’s playoff teams. Knicks will be wearing the worst of their two black unis, Cavs their standard whites.
2. Malika Andrews is fine.
3. The effort afoot to make Stephen A. Smith the “Mayor of Knicks Nation” isn’t working. Give it up, ESPN.
If I had to bet, I’d take the higher seed in every series. Most likely upset choices are Warriors, Lakers, Knicks.
Fanduel series odds: Cavs -180; Knicks +152.
I’m with TNFH except Sixers in 6, because they don’t take BKY seriously and it’s actually not a great matchup for them
And maybe Kings in 6, too… When Father Time comes for you, it can be quicker than you expect
Which is also why I don’t think the Lakers will upset. Lebron is not 100% and AD can break down at any moment. An interesting series, but probably a farewell.
Mikal is putting on a show,
please help me remember, how is he at 3 vs. 3?
“please help me remember, how is he at 3 vs. 3?”
He’s terrible!!
smith is like a parody of a caricature of a fool…
Celtics in 5
Sixers in 5
Kings in 7
Knicks in 7
Grizzlies in 6
Bucks in 5
Suns in 5
Nuggets in 6
Philly over Boston in 7
Bucks over Philadelphia in 7
WC doesn’t matter but: Bucks over Suns in 6
Hey Kevin Knox was starting games for the Portland Trailblazers, multiple games!!
Sixers were 27th in the league in OReb (26th in OReb%), averaging 8.7/game. Today, they had 14 even while shooting almost 48% from the floor and about that from downtown.
It’s pretty funny how Mike Brown is a deserving winner of the Coach of the Year, and yet he already has a Coach of the Year award. It’s one of the weirdest awards out there, because sometimes it is clearly “deserved,” and so many other times it is “Coached a good team” award. Brown won the latter version of the award in the past, and now is getting the former version.
I think the biggest risk for game 1 is that Randle’s shot is a bit off or he gets gassed and he tries to do too much anyway. It’s hard to know what he’s been doing, but there’s no way he’s 100%. Today would be a good game to defer a little to Jalen. He should be ready to go for game 2.
It’s not every day that you see Harden shoot zero FTs in 36 minutes…
Randle starting Game 1 is about the least surprising thing ever.
boring jaylen brown has to buy a mask but deandre hunter can literally turn invisible