NBA Matchups: May 21

Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks

Team Totals: Cavs 105, Knicks 111.5

Injury Report: Nothing at all

Cavs projected starters: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Offensive Ranks: Cavs 8th (6th halfcourt), Knicks 4th (7th halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Cavs 15th (15th halfcourt),, Knicks 10th (14th halfcourt)

Season Series: 2-1 Knicks

Noteworthy Missed Games: Josh Hart (1), Deuce McBride (2), Mitchell Robinson (1), James Harden (2; Garland only played one)

Atkinson quotes: Said the Knicks hit some tough shots against them, said “they dominated us in the fourth quarter,” said they had too much fatigue and they had a lot of great looks that didn’t go in, said Mitchell had the ball enough and they were trying to attack the weaker defenders, said he didn’t hear anything about a Mitchell injury.

Brown quotes: Said Shamet came up big with plays on both ends and he was the difference for the win, said Mikal was huge for them on both ends of the floor, said KAT’s double-double was big time for them and they used Anunoby well defensively, said Brunson did what he’s supposed to do, said they were targeting Harden and “it was no secret,” said Shamet was an answer to how they can get some “spray threes,” said they’ll figure out how to give Mitchell Robinson a chance.

Stats and notes:

*Holy Cavs meltdown. They blew a 22-point lead in the fourth for the biggest fourth-quarter comeback since at least 1970. Credit to the Knicks for their fourth 20-point comeback in the last two seasons, tying the rest of the league in that span (via ESPN). It was a 44-11 run in the final 12 minutes of the game, and the Cavs may not be able to come back from this. A lot of this is on Kenny Atkinson, and it was a bad look to talk about how tired his team was in the fourth and then say, “I like to hold my timeouts.” The Knicks just rolled with Landry Shamet for Josh Hart for 12.2 minutes, and they were +36 with that group. Just crazy. Shamet’s ability to guard Donovan Mitchell was huge for Shamet, who hit some of the biggest shots of the game (more on him later). Prior to the Cavs blowing the game, they had this game in the bag with a +26.5 net rating (112.0 O, 85.5 D). Cleveland was winning on the boards, they were drawing even on turnovers, and the Knicks were just 4-of-24 on treys until that point. The Knicks started 2-of-21 from deep, and the Cavs really should’ve had a bigger lead. The Cavs were also not shooting mid-range shots, and their offense looked good until late. Mitchell just didn’t show up late and only had a 21.2% usage rate with a 25.0 TS% in the fourth and OT. Meanwhile, James Harden had a 35.1% usage rate and a 28.2 TS% in the fourth and OT. Not great. It’s tough to quantify how bad this blown loss could affect the Cavs.

*As mentioned above, Donovan Mitchell just didn’t have it in the fourth after he was cruising for the majority of the loss. Mitchell was attacking with 16 drives and nine shots off those, and Mitchell lightening up attack mode prompted someone in the media to ask if Mitchell was hurt. The Knicks will likely use Shamet and Hart on him again, and Atkinson has to funnel more usage to him here. I’d expect a big Donovan game.