CLEVELAND, Ohio — Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau stands arms folded on the sideline with a permanent frown on his face. He hasn’t spoken much during this fourth quarter. Can’t blame him.
Honestly, what could he say?
New York trails by 30 — now 35, now 40 — in this supposed clash of contenders. The game hasn’t been competitive (read: closer than 15 points) since early in the second quarter. Thibodeau is as tired of barking at his players as they are of watching the Cavs splash 3-pointers (they’ve made 18).
But if he’s taking speech suggestions, I’ve got an idea:
Thank you, Cleveland, for the 142-105 shellacking.
The Cavs beat New York so thoroughly Friday night that I had to double check the jerseys. Are we sure the Freaky Friday sequel, where Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis swap bodies again, wasn’t filming at Rocket Arena? Because these Cavs resembled the 2022-23 Knicks, who once bullied Cleveland from the playoffs in five games. These Knicks mirrored the old Cavs, who lacked viable chess moves and, eventually, energy.
Nothing to do with a loss this ugly but sit in it, then hope defeat strengthens you like it did the Cavs.
“I’m appreciative of it,” star guard Donovan Mitchell said of Cleveland’s playoff scars. “I would look at it like that. I think for myself, for us as a group, you needed that. You don’t see us get to this point … if we don’t, quite frankly, get embarrassed by New York.”
Good thing they did. Because two years after their ugly playoff exit, the Cavs have bloomed into Capital-C contenders. No caveats, no bad Celtics injury luck required. This. Team. Can. Beat. Anyone.
So stop treating it like the young pups who played a bad playoff series two years ago.
Darius Garland heard the whispers from Brooklyn, where the Cavs took care of business Thursday night. (Earth to Knicks fans making the “back-to-back” excuse: Cleveland played two games in two days, too). The Cavs entered this matchup eight games better than New York. But painful flashbacks are hard to forget.
“Of course, everybody’s thinking about the playoff series that we had with them,” Garland said. “But (these are) two totally different teams…”
Bingo. The young, skinny Cavs have spent two years maturing and lifting weights since their first playoff series. Garland, now 25, just made his second All-Star game amid the most efficient season of his career. He hasn’t fielded a question about his fit next to Mitchell in some time.
Franchise center Evan Mobley has taken The Leap. He’s shooting 3-pointers, scoring points and attempting free throws at career-best rates. DraftKings gives him the second-best odds to win Defensive Player of the Year. And he’s doing it all next to Jarrett Allen, once considered an impediment to Mobley’s development, now another weapon in the NBA’s best offense.
As for the role players, forward Dean Wade, who returned from an 11-game absence against New York, has become an elite defender. Isaac Okoro is shooting a career-best percentage from 3 (40%) for the fourth straight season.
Starting small forward Max Strus (season high eight assists Friday), reserve sharpshooter Sam Merrill (five points, four assists, four rebounds) and super subs De’Andre Hunter (16 points) and Ty Jerome (19 points) did not play a minute against the big bad Knicks two springs ago. In their place were players like Cedi Osman (now overseas), Lamar Stephens (now in the G-league), Danny Green (now retired) and Ricky Rubio (same).
See the difference?
Now look at the Knicks, I mean the Cavs, I mean Lindsay Lohan. Last offseason, New York traded its bully ball identity for a five-out approach. Goodbye center Isaiah Hartenstein, who protected the rim and pushed Cleveland’s big men under it. Goodbye fellow brawny forward (and two-time All Star) Julius Randle. Hello, Karl Anthony Towns, stretch five of your dreams.
The idea: New York needed more space on offense and mobility on defense to keep pace with Boston. Towns has fit well next to Mikal Bridges, O.G. Anunoby, and Josh Hart in this regard.
The miscalculation: That Boston would be the only team to chase. In shedding Randle and Hartenstein — plus missing Mitchell Robinson due to injury — the Knicks lessened their advantage over Cleveland. By adding shooters and hiring coach Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland improved its biggest weakness (playoff offense). And with Friday’s dominant victory, the Cavs re-framed the conversation around their shrinking nemesis.
You want to say the Knicks hang closer with Knicks guard Josh Hart, who missed Friday’s game with a knee injury, in the lineup? Fine. Same with Same with Robinson? Sure, even if we don’t know what how long he’ll need to regain a rhythm.
But if you’re still treating Cleveland like an 82-game pretender, stop it. Watch the games. Check the numbers. Trust your eyes.
Cleveland boasts a better point differential (+11.2 points per game) than four of the last five NBA champions. It has the second-best offensive rating (121.9) of the last 10 years. The Cavs are one of three teams (Celtics, Grizzlies) that boast a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense this season.
Don’t trust stats? Just study Thibodeau’s mannerisms during Friday’s fourth quarter. He had nothing to say, no moves to make. He didn’t bother to play star point guard Jalen Brunson or forward Mikal Bridges (who leads the NBA with 38.3 minutes per game) in the fourth quarter. Because the Knicks only had one path forward.
Hold the L, then study it. Learning might take time, and it certainly hurts. But with the right schooling, students can beat their teachers, or their bullies, or their old playoff rivals.
Just ask Cleveland.
“… I think those experiences are humbling,” Mitchell said. “Those experiences are needed. I don’t think we look at it as like, ‘Man, we need to kick their a– because they beat us.’ I think for us it’s more like … I’m appreciative. It sucks to lose. You know what I mean? And in the moment, I probably wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m appreciative we lost.’
“But looking back at it, this is pretty much the same core of guys that experienced those rough performances. And to have that rebounding disparity that serious, you basically got out-toughed. And now you look at where we’ve all grown as a unit because of that, I’m definitely appreciative of it. I don’t really have a revenge-type feeling. It’s more so like, this really is shaping us to be who we are.”
