The Knicks opened the 2023 NBA Playoffs with a road victory, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1, 101-97.
Julius Randle returned to the court after missing the final five games of the regular season with a sprained right ankle, as he joined Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes and Mitchell Robinson in the starting lineup.
Here are the takeaways….
- Randle buried a three on his first shot then Barrett got a steal and found Randle for another bucket as the Knicks took a 9-2 lead to open the game. Barrett missed threes on back-to-back possessions as Donovan Mitchell began to get going and the Cavs tied it up. Brunson picked up his second foul with 7:52 left in the first quarter, forcing Immanuel Quickley to come in to the game a bit earlier than expected. Barrett found a cutting Robinson for an alley-oop dunk to give New York a lead, but Isaac Okoro tied it up and then Mitchell sliced his way to the rim to put the Cavs up 17-15 and force Tom Thibodeau to call timeout with 4:53 left in the first.
Grimes put the Knicks up a point with a three and then Josh Hart scored on a tip to make it a 21-18 game. Randle drilled a step-back three to give the Knicks an eight-point lead, but the Cavs continued to keep it close. Evan Mobley scored as time expired as the Knicks led 30-24. New York shot 45.5 percent in the first and went 7-for-8 at the foul line, while holding Cleveland to just 1-for-8 shooting from deep.
- Randle's hot shooting continued to start the second as he scored to give him 10 points on the night and the Knicks a double-digit lead. Brunson was called for his third foul with 9:12 left in the second, as Barrett replaced him on the court. Darius Garland ended the Cavs' scoring drought with a corner three and then Mitchell spun his way to the rim in transition to cut the Knicks' lead to seven, forcing a timeout with 6:41 left in the half.
Barrett made his first field goal after an 0-for-4 start, but Mitchell made back-to-back baskets to keep it close. Randle was fouled hard down low by Jarrett Allen and Mitchell stepped in to seperate the two big men. Mitchell then nailed a three to give him 12 straight for the Cavs to cut the Knicks' lead to five.
- New York was outscored in the second quarter, 21-20, but still led 50-45 at the break. Randle led the Knicks with 16 points, while Mitchell kept the Cavs in it with 18 points. Both teams struggled shooting through two quarters, as the Knicks shot 3-for-16 from three and the Cavs went 4-for-18 from deep.
- After a sloppy start to the third quarter and a Mobley dunk cut the Knicks' lead to three, Thibs called timeout just a minute into the second half. Brunson scored on a floater in the lane, but Mitchell came right back with a side-step three to tie the game at 54 apiece. Obi Toppin got open in transition for a huge one-handed jam and then Brunson and Garland traded buckets. Barrett picked it up with his first three after an 0-for-3 start from beyond the arc, and on the next possession he found Isaiah Hartenstein for a close floater.
Brunson hit Toppin in the corner for three and a few possessions later found the former Top-10 pick in transition to go up 76-65. Hart grabbed another offensive board and scored inside as the Knicks picked up their effort to close out the third. New York outscored Cleveland 28-25 in the quarter thanks to 12 points from Brunson and led 78-70 heading into the fourth.
- Randle elbowed Okoro in the face while driving to the rim to pick up his third foul, and was luckily not called for a flagrant foul after the refs reviewed the play. Hart grabbed his fourth offensive rebound and scored easily to push the Knicks' lead to 10. That gave him 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting. After the Knicks got three straight offensive rebounds, Randle connected with Robinson for a baseline dunk.
Mitchell got back in a groove and scored 10 straight points for the Cavs to cut the deficit. Cedi Osman scored inside and then Allen tipped it in to give Cleveland a 93-92 lead with 2:12 remaining. Despite turning his ankle on a previous play, Hart drilled a three to put the Knicks back up and Brunson followed with a mid-range jumper to push the lead to four. The Villanova product then blew by Osman and banked in a floater with 35.4 seconds left. With the clock winding down, Randle grabbed the biggest offensive rebound of the day after a Brunson miss and got the ball to Grimes, who hit both foul shots to ice the game.
- Brunson finished with 27 points in 30 minutes of action, Randle scored just 19 points and Hart finished with 17 off the bench. Mitchell led all scorers with 38 points in 44 minutes. New York outrebounded Cleveland 51-38 and won the bench battle, 37-14. The Knicks scored 26 points off 14 Cavs turnovers.