Knicks drop to Cavs 126-109 at home as Derrick Rose makes his first start

With Kemba Walker rested for last night’s game, coach Tom Thibodeau inserted Derrick Rose in the starting lineup for the first time this season. Rose scored 17 points and dished 5 assists but the Knicks fell after halftime and recorded their fourth loss of the season (third at home), 126-109 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cavaliers’ Ricky Rubio was impossible to contain. Thib’s former player from their days back in Minnesota scored a career high 37 points coming off the bench and shot 8-9 from behind the arc. Rubio scored 26 points in the second half and 14 in the final period to help his team win their 7th game of the season. Evan Mobley, the third pick of the 2021 NBA draft dropped 26 points and grabbed 9 boards for Cleveland who improved to 7-4.

The Knicks were led by Julius Randle who finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Evan Fournier scored 15 buckets and Immanuel Quickley finishied with 12 off the bench.

“In critical moments, we’re not getting stops consistently and we’re giving teams confidence early. We got to be better. I think it’s our energy, fight and will. I’ve said this from the first day: We’ll be fine if we play defense. Offensively we have enough talent.”

– Julius Randle

The Knicks led shy for several brief moments and their biggest lead was four, late in the first quarter and then again early in the second period. The Cavs started the second half with an 11-2 run and from there they never looked back. They outscored the Knicks 33-18 in the third period and had a game-high 17 points lead at the final buzzer. They dominated in field goal percentage, shooting over 54.4% including 54.3% from behind the arc while the Knicks struggled, shooting under 46% from the field and going just 9-31 from long distance.

RJ Barrett shot 3-13 from the field and 0-6 from the three, finishing with just 6 points. Fournier also had a poor shooting night going 5-13. Obi Toppin was the most efficient Knick of the night, going 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line. He finished with 11 points to which he added a couple of boards and an assist.

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Up-next: The Knicks (6-4) will travel to Philly to take on the Eastern leaders, Philadelphia 76ers (8-2) tonight from 7:00pm.