The Knicks let a second-half lead slip away and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-104, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the takeaways…
-Things got off to a slow start offensively for both teams with neither side able to settle into a groove thanks to some strong defensive play. New York missed its first seven three-point attempts while Cleveland went 1-for-7 from deep to begin the contest.
-With 2:07 left in the first quarter, Cam Payne finally connected on a three-ball for the team’s first of the night. Karl-Anthony Towns followed with a made three on the Knicks’ following possession which pulled them to within three points in the quarter.
–Jalen Brunson had a quiet first 12 minutes, scoring just two points on 1-for-6 shooting as New York went into the second quarter down 22-18.
-That’s when the offense for the Knicks perked up. They scored 34 points on a total team effort — Brunson, Josh Hart and Miles McBride each had seven while Mikal Bridges added six.
-The defense remained steady, too, holding the Cavs to 23 points (despite a decent 7-for-16 shooting from the floor) and 45 points through two quarters. It wasn’t the prettiest, but New York went into the second half with a seven-point advantage at 52-45.
-Out of the locker room, baskets were hard to come by at first. However, that soon changed for the Knicks who opened up a game-high 13-point lead on Cleveland with 4:29 left in the quarter thanks to OG Anunoby‘s three-pointer.
-From that point on, though, the Cavaliers went on a 13-2 run to trim their deficit to just two points. In that time, New York went 1-for-6 from the field. Through three quarters, the Knicks’ lead shrank to 78-74.
-That lead vanished early in the fourth quarter after Georges Niang hit a triple to put Cleveland on top 81-80 — its first lead since it led 31-29 with 8:17 remaining in the second.
-While the Cavs made their first four shots of the quarter (two of them threes), New York began the frame just 1-for-4 (two missed threes). Free throws by Hart and a made bucket by McBride tied the game at 84-84 before the Knicks retook the lead on McBride’s three-point shot.
-The…
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