Knicks blow 13-point lead, survive Jalen Brunson injury scare in loss to Cavaliers
The retooled Knicks have looked more cohesive since getting destroyed by the Celtics on Opening Night, but they only have split a pair in their next two games against recent Eastern Conference playoff foes.
The Knicks flushed a 13-point third-quarter lead Monday night to Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers and they lost for the second time in three games to start the season, 110-104, at the Garden.
Darius Garland led the unbeaten Cavaliers (4-0) with a game-high 34 points and Mitchell finished with 25, as the Knicks could not do their part on a busy night in New York sports.
All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson came up limping following a floater in the lane late in the third quarter and briefly headed for the locker room. But he returned to the bench before the period ended and checked back into the game early in the fourth before finishing with a team-high 21 points — albeit on 8-for-24 shooting — with seven assists.
Josh Hart, who was questionable to play due to an ankle issue, limped to the locker room late in the fourth quarter, shortly after a mid-court collision with Cleveland’s Caris LeVert.
Mikal Bridges scored 19, while Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who will play in Miami on Wednesday.
Before the game, former Knicks assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, now the head man in Cleveland, said that he believes Towns was “an incredible pickup” that makes the Knicks “championship contenders.”
The Knicks missed their first seven attempts from 3-point range and trailed by nine in the first quarter, before Cam Payne and Towns connected from long distance in the final 2:07 to help cut the deficit to 22-18 through one. Mitchell and Garland netted seven apiece for the Cavaliers in the first.
Payne drained another trey earlier in the second to pull the Knicks within one, and a 9-0 run culminated by a 3-pointer and an inside bucket from Hart (16 points, 13 boards) gave them a 36-31 lead midway through the quarter.
A dunk by Bridges and a free throw by Brunson extended the Knicks’ cushion to 10, their largest of the half, with less than three minutes to play before the Cavaliers trimmed the score to 52-45 at intermission.
Bridges paced the Knicks with 10 first-half points, Hart and Brunson had nine apiece, while Payne and Miles McBride combined for 13 through two quarters.
The Knicks led by as many as 13 in the third on OG Anunoby’s 3-pointer with 4:29 to play in the quarter, but two straight close-range baskets by Garland triggered a 13-2 Cleveland run that pulled the Cavaliers within two, 74-72, with less than one minute remaining in the period.
The Cavaliers tied it in the opening minute of the fourth on inside makes by Evan Mobley and Mitchell, prompting Tom Thibodeau to call a timeout.
Brunson came back onto the floor after the stoppage, but 3-pointers by Georges Niang and Mitchell gave the Cavaliers an 84-80 advantage with 9:50 left.
Hart helped the Knicks even matters again, however, with two free throws following a hard foul by Niang and then a steal and feed to McBride for a game-tying layup.
But Garland buried two more 3-pointers around an offensive foul called against Knicks rookie Ariel Hukporti on a would-be dunk for a 99-91 Cleveland lead with 3:51 remaining. Brunson netted five points to pull the Knicks back within three at 1:41, but they got no closer.
