Once again, the New York Knicks looked overmatched against a top team in the league, as the Cleveland Cavaliers smoked them Friday by a score of 142-105, the largest loss for the Knicks with Tom Thibodeau as head coach. New York falls to 37-19 on the season while Cleveland improves to 46-10.
The Knicks’ defense was horrific against the Cavaliers
The Knicks’ defensive problem reached its tipping point against the Cavaliers. Just one day after giving up 19 three-pointers to the Chicago Bulls, New York was unable to get away with poor perimeter defense against Cleveland which led to this beatdown.
The Cavaliers shot 19-for-37 (51.4%) from three, including five from Donovan Mitchell (27 points). Cleveland torched the Knicks’ poor perimeter defense and made their scoring look easy. The first several plays of the game were scored on dunks from the Cavs, followed by a three-point barrage that proved too much for New York.
The Knicks also allowed 66 points in the paint on the night, having virtually no rim protection down low. New York was without Josh Hart (knee) and Mitchell Robinson in this game, and they badly missed both of them as they could’ve solved their defensive problems Friday.
Precious Achiuwa struggled as a starter against the Cavaliers
OG Anunoby made his long-awaited return Friday, but the Knicks still insisted on starting Precious Achiuwa in place of Hart. Achiuwa struggled mightily in his start, as he scored just seven points on 3-for-10 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. He was a team-worst -25 on the night.
Achiuwa has provided some quality minutes in the absence of some key players, but he gave the Knicks little to be desired against Cleveland on either of the floor. The lack of offensive creation from him hurt the team’s offensive flow and they were unable to generate good offense with him on the floor.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau likely gave him the start to match the big frontcourt of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley that Cleveland has, but the idea did not work as the Knicks were gashed in nearly every facet of the court.
Overview
The Knicks are now 0-4 against the Cavaliers and Boston Celtics this season, and they have the latter next on their schedule. New York will look to destroy some narratives and try to get a massive on the road over the Celtics on Sunday.