James Harden put an end to the Knicks’ recent dominance over Cleveland, scoring heavily down the stretch to lift the Cavaliers to a 115-107 win over New York on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The loss snapped the Knicks’ four-game winning streak and halted a run in which they had beaten the Cavs five straight times dating back to last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
For much of the night, the game looked like it would follow a familiar script. The Knicks trailed for most of the evening before cutting the deficit to seven points on a Karl-Anthony Towns layup with 7:33 remaining, prompting a timeout from Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson.
New York answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game with 5:35 left, forcing another Cleveland timeout and raising the possibility of another late collapse by the Cavs.
Instead, Harden took over. He hit a jumper to put Cleveland back up by two with 5:22 left, then drained a 3-pointer a minute later to push the lead to three with 4:22 remaining. The Knicks could not recover down the stretch, and Cleveland held on for the win.
Harden finished with 32 points, while Donovan Mitchell added 23 for the Cavaliers, who entered the night having lost their previous four games this season.
Jalen Brunson and Towns carried the offensive load for New York, combining for 48 points. But the Knicks’ other three starters — OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — managed just 22 points on 7-for-20 shooting combined, even with Anunoby scoring nine points in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, that trio had contributed only nine points on 4-for-16 shooting.
Bridges continued to see reduced playing time, finishing with just 17 minutes — fewer than both Landry Shamet (28 minutes) and Miles McBride (27 minutes), who were both more productive. Bridges did not play at all in the fourth quarter, with McBride, who scored 19 points, taking his place on the floor in crunch time.
Hart, returning from a three-game absence, looked out of rhythm and also lost his spot in the fourth quarter to Shamet.
The defeat came on the second night of a back-to-back for the Knicks, who had won six of their previous seven games before Wednesday’s setback.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login