Game Preview: Cavs @ Knicks, 12/16/2020
Get ready for the Knicks’ preseason home opener against the Cavs tonight, including a prediction about a visiting former Knick.
Wonder if we’ll get a stink bomb tonight. The Knicks return home for the first of two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Or so we think. There is simply no way to find out, because there will be no media members allowed in.
Well, OK, some media in some capacity. I see how it is, though. Let’s not avoid the obvious truth in a Garden of lies! State run media is totally normalized in these troubling times. It’s all the rage. Ya know, because here I am, minding my own Bizzy Bone, sticking to sports and Cleveland rap. Then for no reason I’m wet-slapped by this catastrophic hot snickers of shit. Politics as usual, the business of vicarious friendship via aerobic exercise. It’s just a game that these evil demons play. I guess these are the days of our lives.
Projected Starters
Collin Sexton will make his preseason debut in hopes of getting tuned up before the real cola starts fizzing. Previously he sat because of a tweaked ankle. Kevin Love should also get a quick look with the starting group, dip a toe in, maybe go knee deep. Larry Nance Jr. and Matthew Dellavedova did not travel with the team. No reason, just cooling.
One thing to keep your eye on is whether Isaac Okoro starts or if the Cavs give Cedi Osman the nod. Osman has played well, and I’m sure JB Bickerstaff is like most coaches, when it comes to feeling more comfortable with the seasoned pro. The trick is, Okoro fits in very fluidly for this unit. If he continues to hit his threes, there’s no reason to bring him off the bench.
The guy I think should be a sixth or seventh man for them is Darius Garland. Garland has looked better than he did last year, perhaps more confidence playing at NBA speed. Giving him the ball and letting second units figure out how to deal with his free range might help Cleveland through a few extra cold nights. That’s also where ex-Knick Damyean Dotson could fill in. He applies some pressure with the ball in his hands but really could excel when attacking defensive rotations. He’s had a a few gems in the first two games, including a go-ahead bucket late and a game-winning assist.
On the Knicks side of the street, Frank Ntilikina and Nerlens Noel aren’t playing. Hopefully it’s just precautionary. Meanwhile Austin Rivers (groi-oi-oing) is out and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist remains out with the sickness. I don’t know what sickness. Maybe not the sickness, but he sick. Let’s just say there’s an illness. Kevin Knox counting his lucky stars MKG doesn’t come walking through that door any healthy time soon. Making solid defensive rotations and taking big Kev’s little minutes. Got that Fortnite on the brain. Meanwhile there’s a whole lot of fools coming for those oyster cracker-ass minutes you been dropping on the chowder.
This should mean extended run for Immanuel Quickley and maybe the emergence of Myles Powell. Tom Thibodeau surely does love him a little scoring guard. Quickley got off the bench and took care of business a little something while he had the chance in Sunday’s game against the Pistons. Would love to see what he can do with actual time to establish himself in the flow of the game.
Keys & Predictions
This is the last stand for Dennis Smith. Sexton and Garland are gonna break his ankles clean off his body and sew them back on the opposite legs. He’s playing himself further and further toward signing with the Cairns Taipans next season. If Thibs lets this man prove himself over the next several weeks, I may have an aneurism. Be that as it may, it’s preseason, and you shouldn’t put too much into his chunky start. Maybe he really does need a stretch of games to figure out his teammates and his role within the grand scheme. I have sincere doubts, but I don’t want to go cuckoo, so I’ll grit my optimistic teeth and wait for a trade.
This is definitely the Damyean Dotson game with no Ntilikina to shut him down. Unless Quickley wants to slash Dot’s tires, I’m expecting big things. 33 points on 16 shots type stuff.
Knicks by -11
Warm Up Music
When I slide away from the ledge and press my back against the wall. I look over what this frigid life has become. What are you offering me? I slump in a silent tirade, a pelt over the potential of a world unrealized. From the firmament to the impermanence, become the best, you untamed Knick! Snap into place, damn you! Damn you, I command it.
