Cavs 142, Knicks 105: No skipping steps
Whether you’re encouraged or discouraged by the Knicks’ latest smackdown loss vs. the Big 3, you’re right to feel that way
Well that wasn’t fun.
Coming off of a grueling overtime victory the night before against the Chicago Bulls, the Knicks left the Big Apple for Joakim Noah’s favorite vacation destination, welcoming back OG Anunoby (who missed several games with a foot sprain) while Josh Hart missed his second straight with a knee injury. In his place, Tom Thibodeau opted to start Precious Achiuwa at power forward, a decision that has received a fair amount of criticism on Elon Musk’s forum for balanced and rational discussion Twitter. The nationally televised game showcased two of the top teams in the East in a rematch of their 2023 playoff series, in which the final margin (4-1 in favor of your beloved ‘Bockers) did not do justice to the intensity displayed by both teams in most of the games.
Friday was not quite that. Even the lone victory Cleveland scored in that series (a 27-point beatdown in Game 2) felt palpably different, a defensive battle in which the Cavaliers’ vaunted frontcourt completely shut down Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and everyone else. Friday night, on the other hand, was an offensive romp by the home team characterized by lightly contested forays and back-cuts to the rim, constant fast breaks and marvelous shotmaking, most notably Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter combining for 64 points on a scorching 25-of-36 shooting, including 10-of-12 from deep. Remarkably, the trio reached that efficiency despite combining for just five free throws.
The Knicks were unable to offer much more than token resistance. When they weren’t getting beat down the floor in transition, they were completely lost in pick-and-roll defense, as yet another contender repeatedly exploited Karl-Anthony Towns and picked apart the Knicks’ rotations when they sent help. It is tough not to be impressed with the job Kenny Atkinson has done in his first year: constant motion, breakneck pace and ball movement, and egalitarian production, balanced with the individual brilliance of Mitchell. He’s has had a bit of a down year by his lofty standards, but as he reminded us yesterday he’s still capable of going off without disrupting the offensive flow, and Cleveland is clearly firing on all cylinders as a result.
Knicks fans who have been tuned into the Cavaliers all season were quick to remind their stunned comrades that Cleveland has been doing this all season and is not the same team that the Knicks gentlemen-swept two years ago. While the author would like to see what it looks like in the playoffs before making that conclusion, it’s tough to disagree after the Cavs became the latest contender to dump a bucket of cold water on the enthusiasm bubbling from what looks like the best Knicks team this century.
The Cavs put up 41 points in the first quarter while barely breaking a sweat. The Knicks did their best to keep pace behind tough shotmaking from Brunson (who finished with 26 on 10-of-17 shooting in just 27 minutes), and after one they trailed by “only 12”. It certainly felt like the Knicks could have been down by much more given the possession-to-possession dominance of Cleveland, if not for Brunson.
Sure enough, when he sat in the second quarter the wheels fell off. Towns, who finished with 23 on 10-of-15 shooting in 28 minutes, did his best on offense, imposing his will inside for tough buckets despite suboptimal spacing, but the Knicks got little from anyone else, while Towns was repeatedly victimized on defense. Mitchell tormented the Knicks, finishing repeatedly at the rim (including a ridiculously acrobatic and-1 at the expense of Precious Achiuwa) and torching the nets from outside on the rare occasions that his path to the paint was obstructed. By the time Brunson checked back in midway through the second, the lead seemed insurmountable – not just because of the margin, but because of how sustainable their success seemed. The visitors went to the locker room facing a mountainous 27-point deficit.
The second half was more of the same, an almost pointless and academic exercise with the only suspense being whether or not Cleveland would score 150. Ty Jerome got in on the fun, joining the 3-point party (he made three of four from distance) and scoring 19. When the final buzzer mercifully sounded, the Cavaliers had once again announced themselves as title contenders. On the other side, Knicks fans once again found them wrestling with the nagging crescendo that as talented and successful as this team is, they are still climbing a mountain to get to the level of Boston, Oklahoma City and, apparently, Cleveland.
Notes
It’s the last thing anyone wants to hear right now, but it’s important to keep perspective: in some ways, this felt like a schedule loss for the Knicks. It was the second game of a back-to-back, with the Knicks were coming off an exhausting overtime victory. Say what you want about the Bulls, they always play the Knicks tough, and that was true once again Thursday. Back-to-backs are tough for all teams, but they appear to affect the Knicks even more significantly, given the lack of depth behind their vaunted starting five. Additionally, this was Anunoby’s first game back and the Knicks were without the (pun intended) Hart and soul of their team.
Having said that, this felt very similar to recent games against the Thunder and Celtics. Once again, the Knicks simply had no answers on defense. While the “Wingstop” duo of Mikal Bridges and Anunoby have had their moments this season, they have largely failed to overcome the defensive shortcomings of their teammates (most notably Towns) against the cream of the crop. It is unfair to say the Knicks have no signature wins against top teams (e.g. blowout wins over Denver and Memphis), but against the top three their defensive issues feel systemic.
The debate now turns to what can be done to mitigate these issues and bridge the gap with the top teams. Some will point to the roster construction as inherently flawed. Is there a fixed, defensive ceiling inherent to a roster built around Towns and Brunson, two elite offensive stars who nonetheless have glaring defensive limitations? (As an aside, I actually think Brunson has punched well above his weight on that end this season; he continued to be disruptive even as the Cavaliers opened the floodgates).
Others will note that defensive guru Thibodeau has not tried enough defensive strategies to try to work around the roster’s limitations. Every roster (especially in the age of the second apron) has its flaws, but one would think that a great coach, particularly one as respected and with the defensive pedigree of Thibodeau, can find creative ways to maximize the roster. So far, we haven’t seen much of that. One can also point to the offensive end and ask if the team’s ceiling is truly being reached. It’s difficult to argue with the results (the Knicks rank third in offensive rating for the season, one spot ahead of the juggernaut Celtics), but as Shwinnypooh noted, the shotmaking of Brunson and KAT has masked some issues.
It may seem odd to complain about the offense, but if the defense is fundamentally incapable of slowing down these teams anyway perhaps squeezing as much as possible from the team’s strength makes more sense. One lever the Knicks could look at is improving the volume of 3-point attempts, as Shwin noted; they currently rank 27th in attempts per game. I couldn’t find tempo-adjusted 3-point rate for the season, but it’s safe to say that while the numbers would likely be kinder to the Knicks from that lens, given their slow pace, there is quite a bit of meat being left on the bone. This has been somewhat exacerbated by some of the lineup decisions made by Thibodeau, starting Hart and now Achiuwa over Deuce McBride, a smaller player who’s nevertheless a superior volume 3-point shooter. Hart and Achiuwa provide much-needed rebounding next to Towns (for all their defensive issues, the Knicks are still a respectable if mediocre 17th in defensive rebounding), but it’s not like either of them have provided huge defensive impact. McBride, while undersized, is a tenacious defender with excellent lateral agility who might be more useful against teams with dynamic perimeter stars – like Cleveland.
Yet I do not think more McBride is a silver bullet that will unlock 3-point volume. This doesn’t absolve Thibodeau from the responsibility of trying different fixes, even if the impact is limited; it’s just an opinion on the extent of that impact. The larger issue is that Brunson and Towns, arguably the two best shooters on the team, two of the best in the NBA, are relied on heavily to create with the ball in their hands, particularly Brunson. Towns has unquestionably been a significant upgrade over Randle, but he hasn’t been able to generate wide-open threes for Brunson or others the way Randle did. Towns post-ups usually end with a very efficient shot or a pass to a cutter, and his drives often end (again, largely efficiently) in an attempt at the rim. The results have been great on the whole, but they haven’t created open threes the way Randle’s drive-and-kick game did (to be fair, Randle drives also often resulted in turnovers). In Brunson’s case, while he can probably be more aggressive looking for pull-up threes, it’s not like teams are consistently backing up and daring him to shoot. Given his efficiency, most defenses would rather take that away and force him to attack the rim.
What this tells me is that the Knicks could really use some secondary perimeter creation. Hart has filled in admirably in a career season, but his creation is somewhat limited in the halfcourt. McBride is a promising young player, but he has not taken the playmaking leap that many Knicks fans hoped he would. He struggles to create space and his lack of advanced ballhandling limits his ability to create for others. He is still a useful player for his defense and shooting ability, but can’t really free Brunson from constant on-ball responsibility. Cameron Payne has, on the whole, been a solid addition, capable of timely buckets, but he’s also limited in his gravity in the paint and subsequent ability to create catch-and-shoot opportunities for teammates.
Wait, am I missing anyone? What about that guy that cost the Knicks five first-round picks? Wasn’t he teammates with Brunson at that college in Philadelphia or something? Weird that no one talks about this. Bridges has had a successful first season in New York as a third option averaging 17 points on solid efficiency, but he hasn’t initiated much offense. Per NBA Stats, Bridges is averaging just 1.6 possessions as the pick-and-roll ballhandler, resulting in 0.93 points per possession (67th percentile). It’s especially curious given his role across the bridge was as the primary offensive option. Of course, that was by necessity, given the lack of talent on the Nets, and it was understood his role would be different after the trade. But the Knicks have done little to explore having him lighten the load on Brunson, and in my opinion they would be wise to do so. He’s far from perfect – Bridges has been notoriously averse to contact in the paint, often opting to settle for fadeaway midrange jumpers, and his passing leaves a fair bit to be desired – but a few possessions per game could do wonders not only for unlocking Brunson’s off-ball ability and creating another avenue of stress for defenses, but also keeping the captain fresh at the end of games.
On that note, I wonder how much Thibodeau, a coach who wants his creators to get downhill, attack the paint and get to the foul line, is annoyed by Bridges’ stylistic tendencies. It’s a bit reminiscent of Isaiah Hartenstein’s early days on the Knicks. Even before he blew up with the Knicks, Hartenstein’s creative passing ability from the top of the key was well-known. Yet for the first half of the season, Thibodeau used him functionally exactly like Mitchell Robinson, keeping him on a strict diet of screen-and-rolls and offensive rebounds. Partially due to injury, Hartenstein struggled to adapt on both ends. Yet as he had more success in this role, Thibodeau started to allow him to do more on offense. It’s almost like he said, “if you do what I ask, then you can do the other stuff you want to do.” I wonder if something similar is happening with Bridges – “When you show me you will attack the rim fearlessly, I’ll give you more creation reps.” I can see the logic to this, but it doesn’t seem to be working, and if this is just who Bridges is, Thibodeau can’t leave a potentially impactful adjustment (more creation reps) on the table to win this battle of wills.
With all that said, things are good! Whatever improvements the Knicks can make, they have an elite offense and are 37-19, comfortably third in the East. To paraphrase Meek Mill, we used to pray for times like this. The angst, as discussed widely, comes from a combination of the curse of expectations and the feeling that the Knicks do not have many pivots left to make, given the high cost of obtaining Bridges.
It feels timely, then, to look at the team the Knicks just faced. Recall that after drafting Mobley with a high pick and getting a strong season from Lauri Markkanen, the Cavaliers pushed their chips in with the blockbuster trade for Mitchell. Like the Knicks, they gave up multiple picks. Like the Knicks, the resulting roster was very talented, but had key flaws (namely a lack of two-way wings) and general depth issues which were exploited in the playoffs. As recently as last season there were many questions being asked of them:
Are the Cavs stuck in the dreaded “good but not a contender” zone?
Is Mitchell good enough to lead a team to a championship as their top offensive option?
Does the Allen-Mobley frontcourt need to be split up for more depth/better wings?
Will Mobley ever make a leap to true offensive stardom, or even a consistently reliable third option?
Does the Mitchell-Garland backcourt need to be split up?
Will Mitchell demand a trade?
Do the Cavs have any assets beyond these to make the kind of moves required to become a contender?
Fast forward less than a year and the Cavs are the toast of the NBA, winning 80% of their games and looking every bit a problem for Boston, Oklahoma City and everyone else. Mobley has blossomed into a tough interior scorer who can also step out and hit the occasional three while maintaining his elite defensive impact. Garland has emerged as a capable maestro, allowing Mitchell to pick his spots and for both to play off each other. Two years ago they added a quality wing scorer in Max Strus who is able to hold up on defense. Last summer they hired Kenny Atkinson, who’s seemed to have a magic touch with this roster. Then last month the Cavs went out and traded for Hunter, the dynamic two-way wing they sorely missed having against the Knicks (who were able to swarm Mitchell and Garland on drives and ignore Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and Cedi Osman in the playoffs).
Again, we still need to see it in the postseason. But as much as last night’s loss is a bitter pill to swallow for Knicks’ fans, while their roster may seem flawed, and with few avenues for improvement, the Cavs’ growth should be encouraging.
As a parting thought, I’m going to discuss something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately, not just as it pertains to the Knicks but life: the mischaracterization of Mamba Mentality. I understand given the sexual assault allegations brought against Kobe Bryant many will not want to read this; if this describes you, feel free not to read it.
My chosen college football team, the Michigan Wolverines, have a rich and storied history. But when I became a fan in 2007, they embarked on a long period of mediocrity. I began reading Mgoblog (arguably the most highly-regarded website covering Michigan sports) at that time. There was a term the site’s proprietor used to describe fans who would complain about the state of the program without giving a thought to context: the Demand Excellence crowd. It always made me chuckle. But this is a pervasive mentality, not just in American sports but our culture. We see it on t-shirts all the time. “Nobody cares, work harder.” “They just didn’t want it bad enough.” It’s everywhere in sports analysis, too. There are a lot of terrific writers who do deep analysis, and I don’t mean to lump them in, but how often do we hear the nuanced and complex game of basketball reduced to discussions of “killer instinct” or “being scared of the moment”? I’m not saying intangibles don’t matter or that these things don’t exist, but do they exist completely independent of any context?
Which brings me to Mamba Mentality. Basketball fans often use it to describe the intensity with which Kobe played, his work ethic, and his refusal to accept anything other than victory, no matter what. It evokes images of Nietzsche’s ubermensch, or superman. I think a lot of people would be surprised if they took some time to actually read or listen to what Kobe said. For example, not too long before his tragic passing, Bryant appeared on self-help guru Jay Shetty’s podcast. I highly recommend the interview, but one thing I’ll call out is that Kobe specifically talked about how he was never afraid to make mistakes, in basketball or life, because his father told him at a very young age that he would love Kobe no matter what happened. This instilled a sense of fearlessness and curiosity.
Instead of merely being motivated by a distaste of losing, Kobe in fact embraced the path to success and the opportunity to learn from every setback. He was also coached by Phil Jackson, who famously espoused Zen meditation. Zen emphasizes seeing things as they are, and a clarity of mind. One of the most famous Zen texts which Jackson himself recommends is “Zen’s Mind, Beginner’s Mind” by Shunryu Suzuki. As the title indicates, having the curiosity and empty state of mind of a beginner is vital to observe and interact successfully with reality. Or, as Ted Lasso says, “Be curious, not judgmental.” This, to me, is the real essence of Mamba Mentality. Not unbridled ambition and “tough love.” Not insane competitiveness. Rather, it’s clarity of mind, a sharp observation of reality, a curious and fearless approach to the unknown and an understanding that the path never ends; we walk along it continuously and get better every day. Friday Night Lights fans might summarize it as “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”
Mindfulness of these principles can do wonders for us in an uncertain time globally, but this is a Knicks blog. So I’ll close by tying this back to the title of this article: No Skipped Steps. The Cavs have not climbed without getting scarred by setbacks. The Celtics drafted Jayson Tatum in 2018 and only last year won their first championship after numerous disappointments. The greatest player of all-time was beaten up and bruised for six seasons by teams like the Detroit Pistons before finally winning his first championship in the 1990’s (Ed. note: I don’t remember that happening to Patrick Ewing). The road is long and the setbacks are devastating. But they’re necessary. The important thing is getting on the path, and say what you want about the Knicks, but they’ve embraced it and gotten better every year under Thibs. And if you look at the guys on that roster, it’s tough not to feel like they’re embracing that path every day.
Not every move will work. The Landry Shamet signing has failed to add much depth. Ariel Hukporti is promising for a rookie, but still has a ways to go. Pacôme Dadiet has had breathtaking flashes, but he’s still a project. Not all the seeds the Knicks plant will blossom, and the path will be littered with the ghosts of false hopes. But they’ll learn, get better, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. We have no idea what the right moves will be, whether they will make them, or what the wrong moves and setbacks will be – only that they will explore as much as they can. There are no guarantees of glory, but glory does not come without walking the path.
So how do I feel about the Knicks? Many different things, but mainly just curious.
