Recap: Cavs 123, Knicks 109 (Or, Of Course)

Not a lot happened in this game that was unexpected. The Cavs managed to beat the New York Knicks 123 to 109. They accomplished this feet by trying, well, only sometimes. Of course this would be the outcome and everyone in the arena knew it. New York is in tank mode and Cleveland doesn’t much care about their seeding going into the playoffs. Fortunately, the Cavs did manage to get slightly more healthy as George Hill returned to action for 5 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals on only 20 minutes. Despite some mediocre scoring numbers, Hill started and was +6 on the day and had some nice defensive plays.

The real stars of the show were LeBron and Kevin Love, of course, as the pair combined for 54 points. Love’s impact was immediately felt in the first quarter as he started the 3-5 from beyond the arc. It’s pretty clear that the changes Kevin made to his shooting form while injured have had a major positive impact on his shot. He’s getting the ball out of his hand quicker and he looks strong while doing it. He’s shooting deeper and quicker and they are going in. Koach Korver has added another student to his resume and the Cavs are the beneficiaries.

The other Cavalier to have an impact this game was JR Smith (16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals for a team high +14) who checked in halfway through the quarter and put in a layup and a three. It was clear that LeBron and company were only going to give just as much effort as necessary to win in this nearly-meaningless game. Despite a barrage of six threes, the Cavs only managed to come out of the quarter ahead 26-25.

Ty Lue started the second quarter with a lineup of George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, JR Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Larry Nance Jr. Why, you ask? Because of course he did. The shocking thing is, the lineup actually extended the lead out to 10 points before LeBron and Love reentered the game. JR managed to continue to put his thumb print on the game. Below you can see a sweet alley-oop from Smith to Nance. It is always a good idea when Clarkson (16 points on 5 of 9 shooting and 3 assists for +11) is off the ball and having Hill in with Clarkson helped to remedy some of his chuck first, pass later tendencies. Despite being able to extend the lead, Tristan was still pretty useless. Yes, he ended the game +5 with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist, but he also through a block party and invited all of the Knicks. Seriously, he seems to have lost every bit of his explosiveness that he had two seasons ago. Luckily, Lue only played him 9 minutes this game. That’s a good sign.

Love continued to rain threes once checking back in as he added two more in the second half of the quarter. He would finish the quarter with 15 points, all threes. The highlight of the half came with just 1:23 left in the half as LeBron showed us all once again just how silly we were to think he was actually aging. After a rebound by Korver that lead to LeBron being out in the open court, LBJ proceeded to explode out of the gym and throw down a major jam to give us a glimpse of LeBron James circa 2007. See the clip below. JR ended the quarter with one more three and the Cavs would finish the half up 61-49.

Cleveland started the third quarter off with a made technical free throw by Love followed quickly by a nice back door cut and finish by Kevin off a pass from the top of the key from James. The Cavs kept the Knicks at arm’s length for the whole quarter as LeBron showed off his passing skills, lazering the ball time and again to a cutting teammate. When the King’s passes are this sharp, there is nothing anyone on the opposing team can do to stop the man. Of course, we all know this to be true, it’s just so special to watch on a nightly basis. He would end the night with 26 points and 11 assists. The third quarter ended with the Cavs up 90-77.

At the start of the fourth quarter Lue went back to a lineup featuring both Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. but the lineup could not replicate the earlier success and they promptly allowed the Knicks back within single digits because they couldn’t score. Of course, it never really seemed like the game was in doubt and once the lead was cut to five, Love returned to the lineup and all doubt was removed. A few minutes later, at the Cavs would start a monster run as they engaged their thrusters and scored 15 points over the last 3:34 of the game. Clarkson knocked down a pair of threes and a pair of free throws and LeBron chipped in a three of his own. Add that to a trio of layups from Love, Zizic, and Smith and you get the final score to the game as the Cavs come away with another win in MSG, 123-109.

Some Thoughts:

1) Well, if everyone remembers, Cedi Osman missed a couple of big threes after playing nearly the entire second half against the Sixers a few nights ago. Lue didn’t forget either, and, apparently, he holds grudges. Of course, Lue glued Osman’s Turkish rear to the bench giving him a tiny scrap of garbage time minutes to clean up the game. Ty Lue is infuriating.

2) Speaking of Lue’s infuriating decisions, he needs to stop playing Thompson and Nance together. It doesn’t work. In fact, he needs to stop playing T-Top all together. Fortunately, TT only received 9 minutes tonight. That’s more than enough if you ask me. Though, Zizic really should be getting those 9 minutes.

3) The Cavaliers are now just a Rodney Hood return away from being a completely healthy roster for what would be just the second time all season. In addition, Cleveland signed LeBron favorite Kendrick Perkins to the roster for the playoffs. Perk will no doubt add to the culture of the locker room and should be considered full-time security detail should things get chippy. *cough cough* I’m looking at you President Stevens…

With just one more game to go against the Knicks on Wednesday, and Philly with games against the Hawks left, I hope the Cavs just rest up. Give LeBron the token start and allow him to get 10 points then sit him down and don’t risk more injuries. The Cavs haven’t been healthy all season long and there isn’t much of a reason to risk that for an outside shot at the three seed instead of the four. With only one more game to go, LeBron and company will finish up the regular season and transition to what we’ve all been waiting for, the playoffs. As always, Go Cavs!