The Knicks are one win away from advancing thanks to Sunday’s 102-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4.
Here are some key takeaways…
-With Quentin Grimes ruled out due to a right shoulder contusion, Josh Hart joined the starting lineup alongside Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.
– Feeding off the energy from a raucous crowd, Barrett was ultra-aggressive at the start of the game, driving to the rim again and again. After scoring on the Knicks’ first possession with his left hand, Barrett scored six of the Knicks’ first 15 points to give New York an early five-point lead.
Brunson, meanwhile, was lethal in the mid-range. The point guard scored 11 points in the first quarter to lead all players, and finished the first half with 16 points.
– The Knicks led by nine points at the break, and they flat out worked harder than the Cavs in the first two quarters, pulling in 11 offensive rebounds and outrebounding Cleveland 34-22 overall. The Knicks second unit of Immanuel Quickley, Miles McBride, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Obi Toppin gave Tom Thibodeau some terrific minutes to start the second quarter, with Toppin splashing a three following a Hartenstein offensive rebound.
When the starters checked back in with around seven minutes left in the half, the Knicks pushed their lead up to 12 on a terrific and-one tap-in by Robinson. A Brunson second-chance three then put the Knicks up by 15, sending the Garden crowd into a frenzy.
– The Cavs immediately cut a nine-point deficit at halftime to four, scoring six quick points out of the gates in the third. Darius Garland, a non-factor in the first half, took over early in the third, scoring eight points to help Cleveland tie the game at 59-all with eight minutes to go in the quarter. Then, with under six minutes to go, Garland threw a lob to Jarrett Allen to give the Cavs their first lead of the game, as all of the air was let out of the balloon inside the arena.
But the Knicks weathered the storm, and a Brunson three gave the home team a slim two-point lead going into the final quarter.
– With the game tight in the fourth, Barrett began to take over, scoring five straight points, including a difficult fadeaway jumper to put the Knicks up by five with about nine minutes left. The southpaws led the fourth-quarter effort for the Knicks, with Brunson knocking down a step-back three to push the lead to to seven mid-way through the quarter. Not long after, Hart grabbed a rebound and went end-to-end for a layup to put the Knicks up nine as the Garden crescendoed to a deafening volume.
– With Randle having a game to forget (seven points on 3-of-10 shooting), Thibodeau kept him on the bench during crunch time, giving Toppin some key minutes. Then, with under two minutes to go, that patented Knicks hustle helped ice the game, as Hart pulled down yet another offensive rebound, kicking it out to Brunson for a three-point dagger.
-Barrett had his best game of the series, scoring 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Brunson led all scorers with 29 points, and Hart had a terrific all-around game with 19 points and seven rebounds.
For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell has just 11 points on 5-of-18 shooting, and he was held scoreless for most of the second half. Garland finished with a team-best 23 points.
Highlights
What’s next
The series heads back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m.
With a 3-1 series lead, the Knicks are one win away from advancing to the Conference Semifinals.
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