With two minutes left in Game 1, it looked like it was all falling apart for the Knicks. They had blown a 10-point lead, were out of rhythm on offense, and appeared to be in for another fourth-quarter collapse. But head coach Tom Thibodeau made two crucial substitutions and the Knicks held on for a 101-97 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After RJ Barrett and Jalen Brunson turnovers on back-to-back Knicks possessions and then an out-of-rhythm missed three-point attempt, Cleveland took advantage of poor Knicks boxing out and used a Jarrett Allen tip-in to take a 93-92 lead with 2:12 left in the game.
It was a situation we had seen countless times before. The Knicks went stagnant on offense, focusing too much on ISO-sets, and the defense couldn’t come up with key stops. But instead of rolling with his starters, Thibodeau made a switch, subbing out RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson for Quentin Grimes and Isaiah Hartenstein.
The move paid off in spades.
Grimes played strong defense on Donovan Mitchell, forcing a missed shot on the first possession, and then Hartenstein secured a massive offensive rebound with the Knicks up 97-95 with 38.1 seconds left. The fresh 14-second shot clock led to a Brunson layup and a 99-95 Knicks lead.
After Allen scored again for Cleveland, Julius Randle secured the biggest rebound of the season, moving Cavaliers center Evan Mobley out of the way for an offensive rebound with 6.2 seconds left that forced the Cavaliers to foul Grimes. The second-year guard hit both free throws to seal the New York win.
While the Randle and Hartenstein rebounds were huge, the rebounding advantage for New York was one of the key stories of the game. We covered in our series preview that the Cavaliers are one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league, which could give the Knicks a major advantage to keep offensive possessions alive or get second-chance points.
In Game 1, the Knicks won the rebounding battle 51-38. They had 17 offensive rebounds to just 11 for Cleveland. Both Randle and Josh Hart led the Knicks with ten rebounds each, allowing each player to record a double-double with Randle finishing with 19 points and Hart at 17.
It was a solid effort for Randle, who many didn’t even expect to play after battling a high ankle sprain. He was not even cleared for contact as of two days ago, yet was able to start and play 34 minutes. However, he was clearly rusty, shooting 7-of-20 from the field and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc.
But the Knicks had Brunson.
When Randle couldn’t get anything going late in the game, Brunson took over, trading buckets with Donovan Mitchell. Brunson led the team with 27 points, while also chipping in two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 38 points, eight assists, and five rebounds.
Each team only had three players in double figures, but the Knicks’ bench outscored the Cavaliers’ bench 37-14.
Josh Hart was obviously central to that Knicks’ bench effort. Hartenstein also added eight points and five rebounds, and Obi Toppin posted nine points, four rebounds, and one assist, but with Immanuel Quickley struggling to just three points and no made field goals, it was Hart who stepped up.
He even had a Willis Reed moment of his own.
On the Jarrett Allen tip-in that gave the Cavaliers the 93-92 lead, Hart landed on another player’s foot and rolled his ankle. He hobbled to the sideline but stayed in the game. On the first possession out of the timeout, with the shot clock winding down, Hart nailed a three and then limped his way back on defense.
It was the kind of gritty and gutsy effort that the Knicks have gotten from him since he came over from Portland and perfectly epitomized the team’s ability to hang on and grind out this win.
Game 2 will be Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. New York will hope to secure another major win and continue their success over Cleveland in the playoffs, where they have won all three previous playoff series. New York swept a three-game series in 1978 at the Coliseum in Richfield, won 3-1 in 1995 at Gund Arena, and swept a best-of-5 series in 1996.
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