The Knicks and Cavaliers are meeting again, but the shape of their seasons has already started to split in different directions.
New York opened its title defense with three straight losses, including a rough night on ring night at home. Since then, a softer stretch of schedule has helped the Knicks settle in and get back on track.
Cleveland’s start looked sturdier. The Cavaliers dropped their opener to the 76ers, then handled the Nets, Wizards and Bucks, with a solid win over the Timberwolves mixed in.
But the last stretch has gone the other way fast. They’ve lost to the Hawks, the Thunder twice, the Knicks and the Hornets, leaving them with four defeats in their last five games and six in their last eight.
That sets up another look at the same matchup from last Saturday, when Karl-Anthony Towns gave Cleveland problems all night. Towns scored 29 points on 21 shots in Cleveland, and the Cavaliers didn’t have much of an answer. He should still have a productive night, though Jarrett Allen is back and Cleveland should be better prepared to handle his size and physicality this time around.
Jalen Brunson is the tougher problem. The reigning Finals MVP has shaken off his slow start and has been playing like himself for a while now.
Even with a sluggish first quarter on Saturday, he still finished with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting. He also got plenty of rest in last night’s blowout win over the Bucks, which should leave him fresh for another big night.
Brunson’s second-quarter scoring burst last week did more than fill the basket; it helped him absorb pressure and create cleaner looks for his teammates as the game went on. Another scoring outburst feels likely, and so does a strong night as a playmaker.
It’s also possible that after Brunson has already burned them in the postseason and again just days ago, Kenny Atkinson decides to make someone else beat them. If that happens, Brunson has already shown he can handle double teams and hard hedges and still find the open man.
Towns is also in position to keep piling up numbers. After pulling down 16 rebounds in just 27 minutes against the Bucks, he now leads the league in rebounds per game and defensive rebounds per game at 13.8 rpg and 10.5 drpg. Cleveland has had rebounding issues at times despite playing two big men, and that gives Towns another lane to control the game.
The Knicks got 60 combined points from Brunson and Towns in Cleveland, and a repeat of that exact output is unlikely. Still, the supporting casts should be better than they were last time.
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby probably won’t both shoot 4-for-13 again. On the other side, it’s hard to expect Evan Mobley and James Harden to combine for just 19 points on 7-for-20 shooting again, and Donovan Mitchell probably won’t put up 37 points on 22 shots either.
Even with the stars likely settling a bit and the role players improving, the edge still points to New York. Cleveland’s lack of depth showed clearly on Saturday, and the home-away split also favors the Knicks.
Prediction: Knicks win their fifth straight, move to 7-4, and hand the Cavaliers their seventh loss of the season.
In Other News...
Knicks Backcourt Suddenly Has Another Young Guard Worth Watching
A former lottery pick is on the verge of landing in the Knicks orbit, giving Westchester another young guard worth tracking this winter. Rob Dillingham, who was waived by the Hornets in September, is expected to sign with the Westchester Knicks once the waivers process is complete, adding a player with real pedigree to the organizations developmental pipeline.
Dillingham entered the league as the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and has already bounced through stops with the Timberwolves and Bulls in his first two NBA seasons. He has shown flashes along the way, but he still has not carved out a steady home on an NBA roster, which makes this next step a chance to reset his stock while giving the Knicks a closer look at a guard who still has plenty of upside. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Need A Real Tyler Kolek Rotation Test Soon
Tyler Kolek has quietly started to carve out a real role for the Knicks in recent games, and the minutes have been more than just late-game housekeeping. He got a run against Milwaukee before the outcome was settled, then followed it up with a 10-minute stint against the Bulls in which he handed out five assists without a turnover, the kind of clean, composed stretch that can catch a coaching staffs attention.
What comes next is the more interesting question for New York. The Knicks may want to see Kolek alongside a starter soon, especially with Cleveland on the schedule, to get a better read on whether he can organize the offense against a higher-level opponent and not just in spot duty. It is still a speculative idea, but it feels like the sort of test that could tell the Knicks a lot about how much trust they can place in him moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Brown Sounds Off After Knicks Loss Raises Brunson Concern
The Knicks loss to Cleveland came with a familiar kind of frustration, the sort that lingers long after the final buzzer because it leaves you wondering what might have been different. Jalen Brunson still led New York with 27 points in 35 minutes, but the lack of trips to the line stood out in a game the Knicks dropped by eight, especially with the Cavaliers finishing with 14 more free-throw attempts.
Mike Brown did not hide his irritation afterward, pointing to the officiating and the disparity at the stripe as a major issue. For a Knicks team trying to keep pace in a tight stretch, the concern is not just the result itself but whether Brunsons night without a free-throw attempt becomes part of a bigger pattern worth watching. [Read more 🡒]