Categories
Game Thread

2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Cavaliers

The Knicks host the Cleveland Cavaliers, just in time for Donovan Mitchell to return, which doesn’t make sense for this Knicks team, as they’re supposed to miss the other team’s star players. What’s the deal?

This is a big game. The Knicks really need a win here. Immanuel Quickley is back, so that’s huge.

Come on, let’s go, Knicks!

216 replies on “2022-23 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Cavaliers”

Shoe update:

Mobley, Okoro — damn nice
RJ — substandard
Grimes — atrocious

The 3s are cool but that pass to Grimes is the best thing Randle’s done in a few games

“Feline quickness.”

It’s true. Grimes has one of the fastest first steps I’ve seen. Plus he’s gone even before he gets the ball, it seems.

Sims doesn’t jump. He bounces. Like a superball, or Son of Flubber.

Seems like a lot of games lately where we canā€™t miss but the other team canā€™t either

Nice first quarter but the question is, to quote Cyber, ā€œare we going to shoot 66.7% on threes all night longā€?

Pacers are in a death spiralā€¦

I think they were playing over their heads with Hali, and without him, they’re just a flatout bad team. But still young, so there’s hope for them going forward, but not a good team right now.

By Post Author

I like it when the Knicks hit all of their shots. Please continue.

By Post Author

Rubioā€™s always been a smart player,
but did he rehab his knee in a survivalistā€™s camp?

The Knicks really just seem to have the Cavs’ number. I like it.

By Post Author

It’s official. Barrett is actually quite bad at playing defense.

I don’t have the Xs and Os chops necessary to understand why we keep leaving Jarrett Allen wide open zero feet from the basket, but we should stop doing it

I have seen Sims leave Allen to help multiple times without anyone rotating to him…particularly RJ

Obviously leading the Cavs by 2 at the half isn’t terrible but the momentum seems to be on their side right now. And no lead under 40 is safe in the 4th quarter.

I suppose I should be rooting against the Bulls due to their proximity in the standings but fuck the Celtics

Yeah, I like Grimes but he really isn’t looking like a starter-quality 2 right now. Better work on that handle, dude.

2 phrases you never hear from Knicks play by play guys:

ā€œStolen by Barrett!ā€

ā€œBlocked by Barrett!ā€

Hmmm…
-Randle hot start from 3
-Promising lead diluted by late 1st half mistakes
-Off night for Brunson
-Quiet start for opposing superstar
-Rotation about 1 atom thick

I feel an 18-0 run coming at us in my bones, the way an old timer feels an approaching twister.

2 phrases you never hear from Knicks play by play guys:

ā€œStolen by Barrett!ā€

ā€œBlocked by Barrett!ā€

I do hear the words Blocked and Barrett used in the same sentence a lot so there’s that…

I was going to make fun of Pagliacci but, well, ball don’t lie.

I like how Randle yells at Grimes for not catching the badly thrown bullet.

That was the ugliest 2:39 of Knicks basketball this season, and thatā€™s saying something

I don’t know why people whine about Grimes. People don’t pass to him.

When they do, good things happen.

If I stop shitting on Barrett, will someone take up the slack?

“I donā€™t know why people whine about Grimes. People donā€™t pass to him.”

Right, but he desperately needs to be passed to, which is not what you want in a starting 2…

They’re still hanging in there. I’m honestly impressed. They took the punch and didn’t get knocked out.

By Post Author

Sims with some nice moments thereā€¦

The whole team is showing something!

By Post Author

Thank you pepper.

Can I make fun of Pagliacci yet? Or too early…

Wow Julius!

(and question – why does he always look like he has something in his eye?)

Is that Randle’s first make in the final seconds of a quarter in his Knicks career?

Picking up the mantle from Raven:

RJ is personally responsible for an 8-point swing in almost every game. Drive into traffic, get blocked, fail to close out on his man, lose his man, go under a screen, turn it over. Like, that’s a real series of possessions EVERY GAME. We are not good enough to give away possessions like that.

Could he become good? He’s shown flashes. But he creates this kind of point swing and suddenly we’re in trouble. IQ is better. Grimes is better – more limited, but he doesn’t pile dumb move on dumb move to show how he’s the man, in the process destroying any momentum.

This is the most fun we’ve had in the fourth quarter in…a while.

By Post Author

Box score may not show it but feels like this has been one of Hart’s best games in awhile.

I mean, Quick did all he could there. Mitchell is just transcendent when he’s on.

They played some good defense down the stretch, but that wasn’t even good D, that was just a choke job by Mitchell. I think he legit was milking a fake injury to make up for his choke job.

By Post Author

I canā€™t believe they didnā€™t call a foul on hart.

But I will take it!!!

Great win

Brian, I thought that was excellent D from Hart – hands straight up, didn’t lean in, didn’t jump, made it hard for the officials to call a foul despite getting a hand on the shot

“They played some good defense down the stretch, but that wasnā€™t even good D, that was just a choke job by Mitchell. I think he legit was milking a fake injury to make up for his choke job.”

BC with the mean streak…

One would think that Spida should have kept taking step-back 3’s since he made every one he took…

Agree with you, Z-man, but on the switch Randle was right up in his grill, and a lot bigger than Grimes

Randle did an excellent job taking away his 3pt shot and forcing Mitchell to drive.

Brian, I thought that was excellent D from Hart ā€“ hands straight up, didnā€™t lean in, didnā€™t jump, made it hard for the officials to call a foul despite getting a hand on the shot

Hartenstein was fine. He didn’t do a bad job there, but my issue with Mitchell was letting that decide the play. Look where he is where he puts the shot up. That’s a low, low percentage shot. Gotta go stronger there or pass it.

By Post Author

choke is not a word i would use to describe that play. credit to thibs for sticking with hart today.

Even though we had double-figure bonehead plays, that was an off-the-charts defensive effort. The Cavs threw everything but the kitchen sink at us and we responded by throwing everything AND the kitchen sink back at them…

Best win of the season.

To me excellent defense on the last play, Mitchell was hot maybe he should have taken a three but Randle chased him and I-Hart played it really well.

Randle with a huge game (despite the turnovers), Obiā€™s back from his multiuniversal trip, and a nice run for the bench unit.

Still trying to figure out how we were 17-33 from three and didnā€™t win going away.

Personally I never doubted that we would blow this one. Very happy to be wrong, we really needed that win

Look at where Mitchell is when he decides to take the shot.

It was fine defense for Hartenstein to not foul, but Mitchell had no plan when he wasn’t fouled. That’s not good. And then he fakes the injury after the fuckup. Great play by him to make the pass, though, after getting the loose ball. I’ll give him that. I think the Cavs probably should have just called timeout there (if they still had one, that is. I don’t remember).

By Post Author

I missed most of the game. Jarrett Allen 12-17? Yikes. Who was he taking advantage of?

Even though we had double-figure bonehead plays, that was an off-the-charts defensive effort. The Cavs threw everything but the kitchen sink at us and we responded by throwing everything AND the kitchen sink back at themā€¦

That’s what I really appreciated. The fact that the Knicks punched back when the Cavs punched. That’s not what happened the last couple of games.

Hartenstein was very good in this game, especially his defense. That I think Mitchell choked at the end is not a knock on Hart. He did a good job on the drive.

By Post Author

If we make the playoffs I hope we face the Cavs!

Seriously! They really seem to have their number somehow.

By Post Author

Still trying to figure out how we were 17-33 from three and didnā€™t win going away.

Turnovers. We desperately need to keep them low and win the rebounding battle to win.

Also it would be nice to do better on free throws, but at least we didn’t give them many

“I missed most of the game. Jarrett Allen 12-17? Yikes. Who was he taking advantage of?”

Combo of hook shots over guys in the paint, dunks, and putbacks. Lots of plays where his defender (mostly Sims) left to help and no one (mostly RJ) rotated. (I may be exaggerating…)

PS I like Mobley but let’s stop with the Kevin Garnett comparisons. (and thank all dieties that his last-second shot didn’t roll in…)

ā€œCombo of hook shots over guys in the paint, dunks, and putbacks. Lots of plays where his defender (mostly Sims) left to help and no one (mostly RJ) rotated. (I may be exaggeratingā€¦)ā€

Mitch canā€™t get healthy fast enough.

I-Hart’s defense on Mitchell’s last play was so unexpected it reminded me Hezonja’s block on LeBron during Fizdale’s first year…

I still have PTSD from that RJ air ball 3 pointer.

And the review forcing us to relive if for a full minute.

By Post Author

That last possession for NY was pretty bad. I was expecting the worst on the last Cavs possession.

All Iā€™m saying is earlier this season the team was struggling and then they beat the Cavs and won 7 more games after. Maybe this can give them some confidence to weather this next stretch of games without Mitch. Just gotta make it to the all star break still above 500.

After reading Brianā€™s comments I went and looked at the last play to see how Mitchell choked and all I saw was Hartenstein foul him hard within the restricted area. He choked the game by missing his imaginary free throws I guess.

“I missed most of the game. Jarrett Allen 12-17? Yikes. Who was he taking advantage of?”

Barrett. Because for some godforsaken reason he was guarding Garland all night long, getting beat all night long, and leaving Sims to try and clean up the mess.

Yeah ā€œchokedā€ seems like a harsh take. Disagree that it was a foul on Hart, unless you give RJ a retro winning FT vs. Toronto.

Obi Toppin with 39 pts per 36, in a whopping 10 minutes.

(Okay, Randle with 36 pts in 37 minutes…)

I gave a bleak outlook after the 4-game losing streak so hereā€™s some optimism: BOS w/o Smart (hopefully) BKN w/o Durant, LAL w/o AD.

The whole point of paying somebody $163,000,000 is to get foul calls when they are smashed into in mid-air by a 2nd string center, A true star gets that call 9 out of 10 times. (Shows Leon made the right move to fold his hand this summer:)

Nice to see Obi knocking down 3s and attacking closeoutsā€¦not as nice to see Mobley repeatedly taking him off the dribble for easy right-handed layups. But at least heā€™s back to being a good bench piece.

The whole point of paying somebody $163,000,000 is to get foul calls when they are smashed into in mid-air by a 2nd string center, A true star gets that call 9 out of 10 times. (Shows Leon made the right move to fold his hand this summer:)

I mean, if you think he should be bailed out by a star call, fair enough, but your plan can’t just be “assume they’ll give you a whistle, and when the whistle doesn’t come, sort of toss the ball in the vague vicinity of the basket.” Look at where he is when the whistle isn’t blown, there is no way anyone in the league makes a shot from that spot.

By Post Author

Great win! And this can give us more confidence that we can beat good teams, which is even better.

I fell asleep at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, only to wake up in the 4th with around 7:30 to play and the Knicks up by 11 (82-93). By minute 6:11 we were up by 2 (91-93). At that point i thought it was all over and that i must give bad luck to the team. LOL. But they kept fighting back and that was a hell of a statement win. I loved it.

About wanting to play the Cavs in the playoffs, i wouldn’t take away a lot from this games, in 2020-21 we swept the Hawks during the regular season and we all know how it went in the playoffs. Either by memory or because E keeps bringing this up every other thread. šŸ˜€

Mitchell agrees with Brian. From ESPN:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35520989/groin-injury-turnovers-haunt-cavs-mitchell-loss-knicks

But, from his vantage point, Mitchell said the loss was solely on his shoulders.

“I screwed that up,” Mitchell said. “The last few possessions, I can cry about the foul calls all I want. I’ve just got to be more poised for our group. I had one turnover on a layup, even though I feel like I got fouled, pull it out, run a play, get something. And then the second one where I airballed the layup, that’s on me. I let the team down at the end of the game. We played a really good game up until that point, all of us, and I didn’t do my job. And that’s on me.”

I agree with Brian too, once it was clear his comment wasn’t a slight to I-Hart šŸ˜‰

Agree on all counts, cyber. I distinctly remember how happy everyone was that we won that last game to clinch the Hawks and home advantage. Didn’t work out so well!

Even though it is hard to discern from the box score (he was the only starter without a negative +/-), I thought RJ had an overall lousy night. He did hit some timely baskets and had a key steal (!) but commited a bunch of unforced errors on both ends. It was key that Thibs kept him off the court for a long stretch in crunch time. Hopefully he’ll do that more when RJ is clearly an overall negative.

Following the box score I noticed that Barrett was off the court during crunch time. Quickley was there instead. This may reflect two things. One, Quickley has gotten better overall than he used to be, and two, Quickley is probably better at defending Clevelandā€™s guards.

Yeah I think this might be the best win of the season! Or tied with the last win over Cleveland Lol

Comments are closed.