Game thread: New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers 11/7/2021 7:00pm [Game #10]

Are the New York Knicks the team that never led in a loss to the rebuilding Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, or the team that stormed back from a 21-point deficit to rout the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on Friday?

For now, the answer is somewhere in the middle. The Knicks look to establish some consistency when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.

Both teams had eventful victories Friday. While the Knicks were stunning the host Bucks 113-98, Darius Garland sank the tying and go-ahead free throws with 4.8 seconds left as the visiting Cavaliers overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and edged the Toronto Raptors 102-101.

The Knicks appeared headed for a third straight loss when they trailed the Bucks 38-19 and twice fell behind by 21 points early in the second. But New York pulled within seven by the half, took the lead for good on RJ Barrett's layup with 1:40 left in the third and led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.

"You don't want to get down like we did, but we did," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It's a long game and we kept fighting and got it down to a manageable number."

The win by the Knicks marked the first time since at least the 1997-98 season -- the first in which the NBA started tracking the play-by-play in box scores -- that they won a game by double digits after trailing by at least 20 points.

Of course, the Bucks were without Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.

"It's big," said guard Derrick Rose, who finished with 23 points off the bench. "Especially when you lose two, it was big because it was the next game, and the next game was against the champs. This could thrust us forward into the area we want to be in -- consistency."

The Cavaliers, who have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons following LeBron James' departure for the Los Angeles Lakers, have won three straight by a combined seven points to improve to 6-4. It's just the third time Cleveland has been multiple games over .500 since James' final season in his hometown in 2017-18.

The formula was different Friday for the Cavaliers, who almost squandered a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in a 113-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and withstood a last-second game-tying 3-point attempt by the Portland Trail Blazers in a 107-104 win Wednesday.

Cleveland didn't lead Friday until Garland's free throws, after which the Raptors' OG Anunoby missed a jumper and Scottie Barnes couldn't hit the tip-in at the buzzer.

"There's something special growing in that locker room," head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the Cavaliers, whose starters Friday -- Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Collin Sexton and Dean Wade -- all were 24 or younger.

--Field Level Media

(STATS / cbssports.com)

Kemba ruled out today. Step up Grimes/IQ

Cavs are good. Not going to be easy?

I don't remember the last time I saw Kevin Love play a game.

I rather have Rubio than Ben. Always been a fan.

Knicks 4-15 from downtown.

Rubio is 4-4.

CLE up 6 in the third.

Rubio is on fire.

Rubio is now 6-6. Tied his career high. 4-4 in the 3rd.

Thanks for the Game-Thread Rady .... We gonna see a good fight for the WIN tonight !!!
D.Rose leadership made the Knicks winners, and Garland leadership are making the Cavs winners.
Garland vs Our D.Rose ???
The Cavs has improved their game-rotation from last season by adding 3 PG (Sexton, Garland, Rubio) to their rotation to control the tempo of their games. And young Jarrett Allen has become a double-double center.

Down 9, Evan F misses an open 3, CLE takes rebound and drains a 3. Almost cut lead to 6, instead it goes to 12? they get dunk off an off rebound. Down 14 going into 4th

CLE bench owning ours tonight? 33?15.

Wow. That 7th three from Rubio.

Quickley with a big three right after that.

Who else is down for a Rose/Rubio backcourt?

Exciting game going on now. Players stepping up on both teams. Knicks need some stops.

Great block by Randle on Allen!

Career highs for both Rubio (34&8) and Mobley 26-8-3 but NYK still has a chance.

37 now? Rubio is 8-8 from downtown. AB cannot defend him.

2-3 record at MSG

Wow! The young Cavs danced & pranced on us throughout the 2nd half, wow.
Plus old-man Rubio came off the bench to hit a career high 37 pts and 10 Dimes on 80% FG shooting........ Well, I guess the 3 PG rotation was to much for Thibs in the 2nd half. sheese
We are gonna have plenty more games like this if coach-Thibs keep giving our 2nd season players 4 or 6 minute in the first half, then expect them to perform like all-stars in the 2nd half .. And Thibs not putting Grimes on a fire-hot Rubio instead of Burks, we never had a chance for a come-back in the 4th Qtr..

I gotta call it how I see it .... The Randle/RJ-Knicks loss to the Cavs 109-126 !!!
The Bucks loss to the Wizards 94-101 !!!
The Utah Jazz loss to the Orlando Magics 100-107 !!!

Kiyaman said:

Wow! The young Cavs danced & pranced on us throughout the 2nd half, wow.
Plus old-man Rubio came off the bench to hit a career high 37 pts and 10 Dimes on 80% FG shooting........ Well, I guess the 3 PG rotation was to much for Thibs in the 2nd half. sheese
We are gonna have plenty more games like this if coach-Thibs keep giving our 2nd season players 4 or 6 minute in the first half, then expect them to perform like all-stars in the 2nd half .. And Thibs not putting Grimes on a fire-hot Rubio instead of Burks, we never had a chance for a come-back in the 4th Qtr..

I gotta call it how I see it .... The Randle/RJ-Knicks loss to the Cavs 109-126 !!!
The Bucks loss to the Wizards 94-101 !!!
The Utah Jazz loss to the Orlando Magics 100-107 !!!

Click to expand...

Hey Kiya... Saw the 1st half of the Bucks game and surprise by the results. Didn't see the second half so I'm clueless as to what happen. Didn't see any of the Cav's game. Got a question for you. It is about Randle play right now. Again did see the Cav's game so the question is base off of what I have seen so far. Would you bench Randle and start Obi?? The reason for asking the question is this. I asked Tiger a couple games ago about 'Who bring the juice for the team'? Of course as usual I never get an answer or respond. The Knicks don't seen to have a player that excite the fan and get them fired up. No Juice!! But I did see something in Obi the other night that peak my interest. So some explosive from him that I think would help the starting five. To me the obvious choice to bench would be RJ because there is no explosive in him now or ever.
Another question - How about benching both Randle and RJ and putting Knox and Obi in there place? Then there the same problem at PG, SG and SF. Not to mention that MRob and Noel give the same thing. Why would you sign Noel who has the same skillset as MRob? With D. Cousins setting out there.