Following a thrilling game one victory to steal homecourt advantage, the Knicks' offense completely disappeared in game two resulting in an easy victory for the Cavaliers 107-90. Cleveland jumped out to a 20 point lead by halftime and never looked back from there as they tied the series at one game a piece with the series heading to New York for game three.
Cavaliers' Offensive Strategy Overhaul
Game one of this series was a battle between Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson. Both star guards received little help from their teammates, so going into game two there was pressure on each supporting cast to step up. Unfortunately for Brunson and New York, it was Mitchell's teammates that stepped up in a huge way in game two.
Mitchell's backcourt counterpart, Darius Garland killed the Knicks early and often. In the first half alone, Garland scored 26 points on 6-10 from the field, 4-6 from three, and 10-11 from the free throw line. On the other hand, Mitchell only scored six points in the first half, but he did have eight assists. Mitchell would finish the game with 17 points and a whopping 13 assists.
This was a stark contrast from the way the Cavaliers operated offensively in game one. Mitchell controlled every aspect of the offense as he had 38 points on 30 shot attempts. In game two, he only shot the ball 11 times. This total was tied for the third most attempts on the team behind Garland and Caris LeVert, and tied with Evan Mobley. LeVert himself had 24 points off the bench, which was much needed for a Cavs team that desperately needed some production off the bench.
Although Mitchell had an incredible individual performance in game one, it is reasonable to question whether his performance played into the Knicks' hands defensively. It seemed the rest of Mitchell's teammates did not appear in rhythm offensively for the majority of the game. Clearly, the Cavaliers felt this was the case as they completely switched the flip offensively with the way they played game two. New York will have to be ready to defend a less Mitchell isolation centric Cleveland offense next game due to the success of Cleveland's adjustment.
Knicks' Offense Unable To Step Up
Unlike the Cavaliers, the Knicks could not get an above average offensive performance from a single player. Brunson was able to score 20 points, however his efficiency plummeted as he was only 5-17 from the field and 1-8 from three. Julius Randle lead the team in scoring with 22 points on a decent 8-20 from the field, however he had a team high six turnovers. In total, New York turned the ball over 17 times which would lead to 32 points for Cleveland.
Game two ended up being another enormous struggle for RJ Barrett. After a 2-12 performance in game one, Barrett shot 4-13 in game two for a total of 14 points. If the Knicks are going to win this series, they desperately need Barrett to step up and take advantage of the matchups he is presented with most of the defensive focus being on Brunson and Randle.
Immanuel Quickley also continued to struggle a bit in game two. After a dreadful 0-5 shooting performance in game one, Quickley scored 12 points on 4-8 from the field and 1-4 from three. He certainly improved from game one, however he is nowhere near the level of play he finished the season on. Outside of Brunson and Randle, Barrett and Quickley are the only other shot creators on this New York roster. It is imperative that one or hopefully two of them get it going to take some of the pressure off of Brunson and Randle.
With every key player struggling in this way, the statistics for the entire team are not a pretty sight. The Knicks shot only 36.7 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from the three-point line. The good news for New York is it is nearly impossible to shoot the ball worse than they did in game two, so in all likelihood a few more shots will drop in game three.
However, a better shooting performance is not all New York will need if they plan on winning game three. A better shooting performance will not make up for 17 turnovers. Defensively, New York will have to make adjustments to be ready for a more balanced offensive attack from Cleveland. It is clear Cleveland learned their lesson from game one and will not be forcing the offense through Mitchell every possession. They must be ready to give the same respect to Garland as they have to Mitchell.
The Knicks will get their chance to take the series lead back Friday night in what should be an electric environment in the Garden.
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