Cleveland only needed 24 good minutes to come away with a resounding win.
This was a tale of two halves. The Cleveland Cavaliers went through the motions in the first half and paid the price. They fell down by as many as 15 before completely flipping the script on the Knicks to come away with a 124-105 victory.
This certainly wasn’t the start you expected from the Cavs after having consecutive days off for the first time since the middle of March. The Knicks controlled every aspect of this game early on. They were the more physical, more disciplined, and simply better team for the first 21 minutes.
New York looked like the one with consecutive days off. Not the team on the second half of a back-to-back. Then, everything changed.
The Cavs fought back to close the half. They ended the second quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to seven before the break.
Cleveland carried that energy into the second half. It took them just three-and-a-half minutes to completely erase the deficit.
They went on an 18-8 run to open the third. That powered them through to a dominant 38-25 third quarter, led by nine points from Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavaliers never took their foot off the gas from there. They consistently extended their lead throughout the fourth until they ran away with what ended up being a stress-free victory.
The second half was a good reminder of how good this team can be when they get things going.
Mitchell led Cleveland with 27 points on 10-18 shooting with six helpers. Allen added 21 points on 10-11 shooting with eight boards.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Jalen Brunson-less Knicks with 25 points on 9-16 shooting and 13 rebounds.
This team goes as Evan Mobley does
It wasn’t surprising that the Cavs’ first-half struggles coincided with Mobley’s. He was a non-factor on both ends of the floor in the initial 24 minutes as he registered just four points and two rebounds.
As a result, the Cavs were getting beat up in second-chance points and points in the paint while also lacking any kind of cohesion on the other end.
That immediately flipped in the third quarter. Mobley aggressively hunted his shot and the team was better for it. He picked up four points, a steal, a rebound, and an assist in the first four minutes of the third. That corresponded with Cleveland’s 18-8 run that completely flipped the game.
This still wasn’t a good outing from Mobley. Great play from Isaac Okoro and Allen kept him on the bench for the close of the game. But how the game flipped in the third quarter when his play did is a good illustration of how important he is to Cleveland’s success.
Bench lineups can fall apart quickly when you have a few injuries
Atkinson has insisted on playing 10 players throughout the season, even through injuries. This has worked out incredibly well this season. It didn’t on Wednesday when the Cavs were down two of their regulars in Dean Wade and Ty Jerome.
This led to some lineups with both Javonte Green and Craig Porter Jr. on the floor at the same time, which went poorly. This isn’t a shot at either. Groupings with both players have a low floor if things aren’t going right, like it was in the second quarter. To be fair, that would be the case with most teams if they were playing their 10th and 11th man in the rotation together.
There’s simply a limit to how far you can go when you want to play this deep of a rotation. We saw that tonight. Unsurprisingly, Kenny Atkinson shortened the rotation to just eight in the second half to power the comeback.
Isaac Okoro is at his best when he’s creating turnovers
It’s easy to judge how Okoro played by how many shots he made. While hitting shots is certainly better than the opposite in basketball, viewing Okoro through that lens undersells what makes him valuable when he’s at his best.
On Wednesday, he didn’t hit his shots, going just 1-6 from beyond the arc, but it was one of the better outings he’s had in quite some time.
Okoro is on the court because of the defense and overall energy he provides. That, more than the good shooting, is what showed through on Wednesday when Okoro created two turnovers, grabbed an offensive rebound that led to an easy layup for Max Strus, and dove onto the floor to create a jump ball midway through the fourth.
Those are the type of plays that you need your defensive specialist to make. They’re also why he was out there to close the game.
“Defensively, getting steals, those deflections [was important],” Atkinson said post-game. “I feel like he had a lull. We weren’t getting him a ton of minutes. And now I feel like he’s catching his groove. He’s played really, really well lately.”
Okoro may never become as consistent an offensive contributor as you’d ideally like. And that’s okay. There’s plenty of room for defensive specialists in the league, but those types of players need to make splash plays on that end as well. That has overall been missing from his game throughout his career. But when you do see it, it’s clear how important that is to his value on the court.
Jarrett Allen is rolling
Allen eclipsed 20 points for the third time in four games with another outstanding showing against the Knicks. His energy and willingness to attack the basket kept the Cavs in the game in an otherwise lifeless first half. That same aggressiveness proved to be too much for the Knicks in the final two quarters, where he scored 13 points on 6-6 shooting.
His outstanding athleticism allowed him to be so impactful against a slower opposing center.
“I’ll never forget in Brooklyn, one of the big reasons we drafted Jarrett is because his insane athletic ability,” Atkinson said. “He moves so beautifully. And now he understands, being in the league, understands tendencies and what guys like to do and what they don’t like to do. He’s kind of the unsung hero on this team.”
It’s easy to forget just how impactful of a player Allen is. This team is deep and has another incredibly skilled big with Mobley. That’s why he spent a lot of this most recent winning streak not even closing games. But when the Cavs have needed him recently, he’s been there to answer the call.
This is the version of Allen the Cavs need if they’re going to make a deep postseason run.