Breaking Down the Cavs-Knicks Series and What Lies Ahead

The Cavs-Knicks series is set to move to New York upon each team taking a game in Cleveland. With both teams’ core players remaining healthy, and assuming we will see the same level of basketball being played, we might be looking at a dogfight coming into the next handful of games.

To start the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks ended up stealing a game on Cleveland’s home court, and instantly put the Cavs on the backfoot. With high-level performances from Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, not to mention Josh Hart’s unexpected 17/10/2 showing, the Knicks have so far negated the home court advantage that Cleveland has. On the Cavs’ side of things, there was not much to brag about outside of Donovan Mitchell’s stellar 38-point performance. Game 1 also saw an out-of-character performance from All-Star Darius Garland, putting up 17 points and an assist without a shot taken in the fourth quarter.

Game 2 saw the Cavs return to the form that saw them end the regular season as the 2-seed. With Mitchell and Garland putting up 17/2/13 and 32/3/7 statlines respectively. There is also something to be said about Caris LeVert’s presence off the bench, where he put up 24 points on 9-16 shooting. This evidently played a large role in the Cavs’ curation and eventual maintenance in the lead they had established throughout the second quarter. On the Knicks’ side of things, no one could get going like they had in game 1, as each of their big 3 failed to put up statlines on above 40% shooting.

The Knicks are likely heading home with a cool head, as Cleveland is known to have a noticeable drop in production when playing on an opposing team’s floor. Though the Cavs hold a home record that stands at 31-10 in the regular season, their road winning percentage plummets to 48% as seen in their 20-21 away record. This stark difference is in pretty high contrast to the Knicks, as they stand with a road record that is one game better than at Madison Square Garden.

Though both teams have a tall task in closing out the series, a big concern for each team lies on the other side of the first-round bracket. Surely both teams would prefer a matchup with Miami after the first round, but all odds point to Milwaukee coming out of the series victorious. In my eyes, the size that Cleveland brings to the table gives them the best chance at making the eastern conference finals.

All said, both teams still have a tall task in knocking one another out of playoff contention, and will likely produce a classic series.