Cavaliers Overcome Knicks in Final Minutes On the Back of Kyrie Irving

(photo. James Herbert, YouTube)

Madison Square Garden is often referred to as "the Mecca of Basketball" and that title was certainly deserved tonight.


A day after Nike introduced Kyrie Irving as their next signature athlete, Irving proved his worth to Nike and the Cavs, propelling Cleveland to the 90-87 win over the New York Knicks.

The Knicks held the lead for much of the second quarter and half of the third, but the Cavaliers were never out of the game.  The Cleveland offense was paced all night by Kyrie Irving, who finished with 37 points on 12-18 shooting from the field and 10-11 from the free throw line.  Seventeen of Irving's points came in the second quarter.

The Knicks held the lead for all of the fourth quarter, until the final minutes.  With the Cavs trailing 83-85 with 3:54 left in the game, LeBron James hit a three-pointer to put Cleveland ahead for good.  James finished the game with only 19 points on 7-17 shooting, but seven of those points came in the final quarter.  James also had 12 assists, playing the point guard role for much of the night and giving Irving the scoring duties.

Irving and James also led the way for the Cavs on the defensive end of the floor as well.  New York point guards had eight combined points and, perhaps even more impressive than that, Carmelo Anthony was held to only nine points.  James played lock-down D all night, something that hasn't always been the case this season, and held Anthony to 4-19 shooting.  With Anthony essentially a non-factor, the Knicks had trouble coming up with other options that would have won them this game. 

Even with the Anthony's struggles though, this one came down to the final seconds.  With the Cavs up by only one with 10 seconds left, Irving hit a 3-foot jumper that put the nail in the Knicks' coffin.

Three Things:

1. Kyrie Doesn't Need to be a "Traditional Point Guard"

Kyrie Irving had two assists tonight...and that shouldn't matter.  At all.  On a night where his shooting is on fire, the lack of assists don't even need to be brought up.  With LeBron James on this team, the Cavs have the luxury of another playmaker on the floor who can make the offense tick.  And let's be honest, Irving has always been a better scorer than pure point guard, and that's OK.  The Cavs' offense is by far their biggest strenght, in part because they have players that can play multiple roles, and Irving has been wonderful at this.  On a night when none of the other Cleveland players were having trouble getting into a groove, this team needed Irving to score to keep them in that game.

2. The Offense Looks Good, But Other Areas Still Need Work

Another game, another night of the Cleveland bench being clearly outplayed.  The Knicks reserves outscored the Cavs subs 42-10.  Dion Waiter, once thought to be the spark that would lead Cleveland's second unit, had six points.  Yes, the Knicks do have the talented offensive player J.R. Smith leading their bench players, but a 32 point difference is not going to cut it.  In addition to the bench play, the Cavs were out rebounded 47-33.  Seventeen of the Knicks' rebounds were off the offensive glass.  On a team that has Kevin Love, Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson, allowing a team to have that many second chances is a major problem.  Against teams better than the Knicks, these factors probably would have led to a loss.

3. Continuity is Still Missing

When a team brings in a lot of new players, there is always an adjustment period.  And while the season is still somewhat young, we're at a point where trends can start being spotted.  After a stretch of amazing games for Kevin Love, the big man was almost invisible for much of this game.  Love finished with 11 points, only five of which came after the first quarter.  Mike Miller is apparently in the rotation now, but didn't score in 12 minutes.  Joe Harris, once thought to be in the running for a starting spot, played four minutes.  Irving was hot tonight, and LeBron found himself in the fourth quarter, but the rotation is unpredictable and finding continuity soon should be a point of emphasis. There's still a lot of time for this to be improved, but the sooner the Cavs can find balance, the better. 

Statline of the Night:

Kyrie Irving - 37 points, 12-18 FG, 10-11 FT

Irving carried the offensive load tonigh, there is no question about that.  He didn't accumulate much else in terms of stats but you can't knock him for that on a night where the Cavs just needed someone to put the ball in the hoop.

What's Next:

Dec. 5, on the road against the Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

Cleveland Cavaliers - New York Knicks preview

(Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

New York Knicks

Record: 4-15, 12th in the Eastern Conference

Offense: 101.0 offensive rating (22nd)

Defense: 107.2 defensive rating (27th)

Net: -6.2 (24th)

Probable Starters	PPG	RPG	APG
Jose Calderon	10.7	4.5	4.3
Iman Shumpert	10.8	3.4	3.2
Carmelo Anthony	23.5	6.1	3.3
Amar'e Stoudemire	12.8	7.9	1.0
Samuel Dalembert	4.0	5.3	1.2

The Previous Result(s)

Oct. 31: New York 95, Cleveland 90

The Match-up to Watch

LeBron James vs. Carmelo Anthony

Best friends, draft-mates and two of the best small forwards in the league face of for the 23rd time in their careers. Records go out the window in these type of games, as you can always expect both of these players to bring their best performance in this match-up. Anthony got the best of James in the first meeting this season, but it is known how much James love playing in Madison Square Garden.

The Number

20

That's how many players in NBA history that have had a signature shoe with Nike, with Kyrie Irving being the latest to receive this honor when it was announced last night in New York. Along with LeBon James, the Cavaliers currently have two players with signature shoes from Nike, the only team in the league that can claim that honor.

The Playlist

Do I really have to explain this part...?

Why Cleveland will win

On paper, Cleveland should be able to walk away from the Garden with an easy victory. The Cavaliers have been on a roll on offense during their four-game winning streak, averaging 120.4 points per 100 possessions, which would currently lead the league by a hefty margin. Add the fact that LeBron loves playing in MSG, the Cavaliers should cruise to a victory.

Why New York will win

As bad as the Knicks have been this year, you can never count out a team that has Carmelo Anthony playing for them. Anthony came up big in their Oct. 31 match-up, scoring 23 points and hitting a dagger over LeBron to clinch the Knicks win in Cleveland. Also, don't forget that the Knicks are the best 3-point shooting team in the league, and all it takes is for one or two guys to get hot for the Knicks to pull off the upset at home.

The Prediction

Cleveland 109, New York 108

I don't care that the Knicks are 4-14, this is still a game the Cavaliers could lose. Cleveland is 1-3 on primetime games so far this season, and everyone knows just how much Carmelo loves playing against LeBron. Despite that, I think the Cavaliers come out with a win, but not without a scare and monster game from Anthony.

LeBron homecoming ruined by Carmelo and the Knicks

(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

It was supposed to be a glorious night for the city of Cleveland and LeBron James, but no one told the New York Knicks that. Carmelo Anthony and company spoiled the opening act to the Cavs season, beating them 95-90.

With the spotlight shining as bright as ever has on him, LeBron James seemed like he did not want to be involved in it. After a four year hiatus to Miami, LeBron returned by the giving the fans an abysmal performance. He scored 17 points (5-15 field goals), grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists, but had a game-high eight turnovers, which cost the Cavs in a big way.

Carmelo Anthony shook off his opening night performance by scoring 25 points (9-17 field goals), including a big-time jumper with LeBron tightly guarding him to give the Knicks a four-point lead with under a minute to go.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love came to play tonight, each doing their best to make up for LeBron's subpar performance tonight. Irving had 22 points (8-15 field goals) and seven assists, while Love had 19 points (6-14 field goals, 3-6 three-pointers) and a game-high 14 rebounds. Outside of those two, no one else managed to play well.

The offense struggled, but the defense was just as bad. We constantly talk about the Cavs defense and how that is their biggest weakness, the offense was what seemed to hurt the Cavs tonight. Despite shooting 45 percent from the field, the offense had no flow and the ball was sticking in LeBron and Kyrie's hands. Credit the Knicks and head coach Derek Fisher as well for the way the defended the Cavs.

0-1 is not what any Cavs fan should want, but this could be a good thing. These are the types of struggles they need to mold themselves into the team they want to be come playoff time. LeBron won't have another game like this, and head coach David Blatt will find a better way to get open shots on offense and mix the rotation.

Lucky for Cavs fans, the season does not end after one game.

Three Things

1. Give it time.
Many people expected us to roll the Knicks, especially with it being LeBron's homecoming. Everyone didn't expect a bad game, let alone a loss, it is exactly what they got. LeBron stressed patience in his letter when returning and also during the media day. The Heat struggled in their first few games with LeBron and company, and you should expect the same with the Cavs. April is a long way away from now and that is when you should be worried about the Cavs play. As for now, there are still 81 more games to figure everything out.

2. Something about the LeBron bring out the best in Carmelo.
It's no secret that Carmelo is one of the best scorers in the league, and he always seems to bring a little extra when he plays against LeBron. After a poor start against the Bulls last night, Carmelo took it too himself to give the Knicks their first win of the season. When the Knicks needed a bucket, Carmelo would give them it.

3. Where's the bench?
Depth was a question for the Cavs coming into the season, and that showed in a major way tonight. Outside of Kyrie and Love, most of the Cavs played bad, especially the bench. The Knicks out-scored the Cavs bench 41-12 and dominated the Cavs second unit all night. Blatt didn't show much of the bench either, playing LeBron and Kyrie 43 minutes each in the game. If the Cavs want to be as good as they think they can, they need to bench to step up in a better way than they did tonight.

Statline of the night: Carmelo Anthony. 25 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds. 9-17 field goals.

If there was anyone in the league that LeBron has trouble guarding, it's Carmelo. He ruined Cavs fans splendid day by hitting big shot after big shot, including the biggest one over LeBron.

What's next: Oct. 30, on the road against the Chicago Bulls. 8 p.m.