Game 2 of the series between the Knicks and Cavaliers was a game of adjustments. Those that the Cavaliers made, and those that the Knicks didn’t. On Tuesday night, that led to a 107-90 Cavaliers win, which positions Game 3 as a crucial opportunity for the Knicks to answer back.
After the win on Tuesday, Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff praised his team for “learning our lesson and then applying all the things that that we talked about.”
One of the main things that they talked about was their inability in Game 1 to handle the physicality of the Knicks. Center Evan Mobley mentioned that the Cavaliers’ poor rebounding effort after Game 1 was a topic of conversation in the locker room and point guard Darius Garland even went so far as to say that the Cavaliers needed to “hit first” in Game 2.
They did just that primarily due to a change in defensive strategy that saw them “blitz” the Knicks’ ballhandlers with aggressive pressure and traps once they crossed halfcourt. It’s a strategy that has worked numerous times against the Knicks during the regular season since Jalen Brunson is one of the only players who can break defenders down off of the dribble.
“They were aggressive with the closeouts,” Julius Randle said after the game.
Aggressive and successful. New York turned the ball over 17 times, including 14 in the first half. The Cavaliers were able to turn those into 32 points going the other way.
When the Knicks were able to get out of the trap, their offense had no rhythm. The guards, most notably Brunson and RJ Barrett, became too dribble-dominant, utilizing most of the shot clock to avoid the trap before attempting a rushed shot from deep or trying to get to the basket but finding no room against Cleveland’s big men.
The reason this strategy has been so successful against the Knicks is the same reason the Knicks also have the worst assist rate of any team in the league: their ball movement can often be too inconsistent. When a defense blitzes the traps like that, it leaves a man open. That also puts the defense in rotation because they need to scramble to cover the open man until everybody can get set. An offense that can swing the ball quickly can find open shots.
The Knicks were unable to do that with any consistency on Tuesday, and when they did find the open look, they weren’t able to knock it down.
The Knicks were 7-of-29 from beyond the arc (24.1%), and Randle was the only player on the team to make multiple three-point attempts. Brunson, Barrett, and Quentin Grimes were a combined 1-of-13 from deep in Game 2, which allowed the Cavs to sag toward the paint and clean up the defensive rebounds that they were unable to get in Game 1.
The Cavs being able to pinch into the paint also took away Brunson’s drives to the basket, forcing the point guard into too many out-of-rhythm threes. There were also multiple instances in the game where Brunson and Randle beat their perimeter defenders but seemed to hesitate when challenged by Mobley or Jarrett Allen in the paint. Without reliable shooters to kick out to, they would force a poor pass into tight quarters or pick up their dribble in a less-than-advantageous position.
Heading into Game 3, the Knicks are going to need to do a much better job accounting for the Cavaliers’ traps. They need to have their outlets established and make early reads to keep the ball moving and get easy looks.
They’re also going to need to knock down their shots, which means that Thibodeau is going to need to be cognizant of making sure there are enough shooters on the floor. Too often in Game 2, he went with a lineup that included Mitchell Robinson, Barrett, and Josh Hart, none of whom are consistently reliable shooters. That allowed the Cavaliers to pinch the paint and sag towards Randle and Brunson to close out on any jumpers.
Despite the poor performance in the first two games from Grimes and Immanuel Quickley, one of those two likely needs to be on the court with Randle and Brunson as much as possible to give the Knicks more floor spacing.
Another new tactic for the Cavaliers was targeting Brunson on defense. They made sure that whoever Brunson was guarding was used on frequent pick-and-rolls, which forced Brunson onto Garland or Caris Levert, who both had huge offensive nights.
The Knicks allowed just 107 points, but the Cavaliers shot 49.4% from the field and 42.4% from deep, so even if the defensive adjustments aren’t as urgent as the offensive ones, New York needs to find a way to counteract Cleveland’s desire to attack Brunson.
That could also mean getting more minutes for Grimes and Quickley, who are better perimeter defenders. Or expanding the rotation to include Miles McBride, who is by far the Knicks’ best perimeter defender and could give the team good minutes in small chunks where he guards Garland or Mitchell to give his teammates a rest.
However, at the end of the day, the biggest adjustment the Knicks need to make is in their demeanor and assertiveness.
“I think for the majority of the game they had more of a sense of urgency than we did,” said Randle after the game. “And that’s correctable on our part.”
Brunson mentioned something similar, suggesting that the Cavaliers played “desperate,” which is how you need to be in the playoffs, and that the Knicks “gotta respond.”
"They played desperate. That's how it is in the playoffs. Honestly, you can't really take anything away from them…We just gotta be better, we gotta respond, get back to the drawing board & stick together…We just gotta be better. And move forward.”
— Jalen Brunson on Game 2 pic.twitter.com/mrQRO38L7h
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 19, 2023
It seems as if the players all know what needs to be done. The Knicks have shown the ability to adjust and rise to the occasion multiple times during this season, but they’ll need to do it again and quickly because if the Knicks aren’t deliberate about how they adjust to what the Cavaliers did to them in Game 2, the ramifications could be season-ending.
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