New York ends the series with a 4-1 after defeating Cleveland 95-106
The Cavs, in which Ricky Rubio did not have minutes, could not stand up to those from the Big Apple
The new york knicks closed this Wednesday their classification for the Eastern semifinals after eliminating 1-4 to the Cleveland Cavaliers (95-106), but they lost Julius Randle to injury, who sprained his left ankle in the second quarter and never returned to the court. This is the first time the Knicks have won a playoff tie since 2013, when they lost to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals.
The Knicks (fifth in the East) were throughout the tie far superior to some Cavaliers (fourth) who could not exploit the home court factor in their favor and who closed their first playoffs with Donovan Mitchell in a disappointing way. The only bad news for New Yorkers this Wednesday was Randle’s injury. With just over a minute to go, the center tried to block a Caris LeVert shot and sprained his left ankle landing on the Cleveland player’s foot. Randle, wincing, was slow to get up and then limped off to the locker room.
Although the Knicks said it was “doubtful” to return, Randle did not return to the field in the second half and in the last quarter he was seen on the visiting bench already dressed for the street. The left ankle is the same one that sprained late in the regular season and forced him to miss the last five games before returning to the court for the first game of this series against the Cavaliers.
With the intention of closing the first round as soon as possible, the Knicks defeated the Cavaliers 95-106 in this fifth game, controlling the duel from start to finish and with great authority. Six players of Tom Thibodeau’s team surpassed 10 points with Jalen Brunson (23 points) and RJ Barrett (21 points) as the top scorers. Also fundamental were Immanuel Quickley coming off the bench (19 points) and a gigantic Mitchell Robinson under the basket (13 points and 18 rebounds, 11 of them offensive).
Precisely the fight for the rebound was one of the plots in which the Knicks cemented their victory with brutal dominance (62 for New York with 17 of them offensive compared to only 35 in total for the Cavaliers). The Knicks, very focused at all times and sparing no effort on any play, also subdued their rivals in points in the paint (44 vs. 34), in second-chance points (20 vs. 3) and in scoring against counterattack (20 against 8). For the Cavaliers, who had a lot of trouble deciphering the visitors’ defense, the main offensive reference was Mitchell with 28 points and 7 rebounds. The Spanish Ricky Rubio did not have minutes in the Cavaliers.