Cavs and Knicks Playoff Preview

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the playoffs. For the first time in a long time without LeBron James on the roster. Cleveland locked into the fourth seed of the Eastern conference with their win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

Now, they’ll meet the fifth-seeded New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

First, here are some facts about the Knicks and Cavs playoff history. New York and Cleveland have met three times in the playoffs with the Knicks winning all three series. Yes, sorry Cavs fans, but Cleveland has never defeated New York in an NBA playoff series. To add to Cleveland fans’ misery, the Cavs have only defeated the Knicks once in nine games

Their first meeting was also in the first-round, back in 1978 and the Knicks won both games.

In the 1995 season playoffs, Mike Fratello led a 47-win Cavs team into a first-round matchup against Don Nelson and the Knicks.

Cleveland point guard Terrell Brandon, Danny Ferry, Tyrone Hill, Chris Mills, and the group were defeated by Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason, as the Knicks won and took the first-round series 3-1.

For the 1995-1996 NBA season, Cleveland and New York would lock heads again. Same round. The Knicks would sweep Cleveland. The Cavs were able to keep it close in the final two games, but still couldn’t win.

This brings us to the present time.

Cleveland will have the first-round home court advantage and the fourth seed in the East. New York is the fifth seed in the East. Cleveland is looking to win its first playoff series without LeBron James since the 1992-1993 season.

Most casual NBA fans will watch the three seed vs sixth seed and the four versus five seed because those are usually the most intriguing series in the first round of the NBA playoff.

Cleveland will rely on point guard Donovan Mitchell to lead the way. Mitchell has never missed the playoffs and is looking to prove he can help a team get out of the first round.

New York finally has talent on their roster for the first time in years with Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Emmanuel Quickly, Jalen Brunson and Obie Toppin.

REGULAR SEASON TEAM STATS:

During the regular season the Cavs only averaged 112 PPG which was in the bottom 10 of the NBA. Cleveland shot the ball 49 percent from the field. Cleveland hit 36 percent from three-point range. From the free-throw line, Cleveland only shot 77 percent. That will have to improve in the playoffs. For team rebounds per game, Cleveland averaged 40 boards a game. That was in the bottom 10. The Cavs were the middle of the pack in assists per game at 24 and finally, the Wine and Gold were very good at protecting the ball with 12 turnovers per game, that’s top five in the NBA.

With the New York Knicks, They 115 PPG, 47 percent from the field, 35 percent from three-point range, 76 percent from the free-throw line, 46 rebounds per game, 22 assists a game and 12 turnovers per game.

PREDICTION TIME!

The Cavs win if:

Donovan Mitchell takes control early and takes some of the playoff heat off the younger Cavaliers like Garland and Mobley early. If Mitchell can keep the group calm at the start and make the players around him more comfortable, that will change this entire season, in favor of Cleveland.

The Cavs MUST protect the ball, improve from the free-throw line, stay aggressive on both ends of the floor, get the assists up and play attacking style defense.

Lastly, the bench MUST come alive. Ricky Rubio, Cedi Osman, and Caris LeVert need to take pressure off the Cavs starters.

New York Knicks win if:

They gain confidence early. Young teams play better if they get confidence early.

Cleveland struggled, in the regular season, against Julius Randle, Emmanuel Quicky, Jalen Brunson and Obie Toppin. Cleveland cannot allow Jalen Brunson to go off again for another 40+ point game. If the Cavs let the Knicks get out in the open floor and the Knicks start getting good looks from deep, that won’t be good for Cleveland. Cleveland must also do their best to win the battle of the boards. The Knicks are a better rebounding team but if Cleveland can close the gap there, that will help Cleveland avoid giving New York second and third chance opportunities on offense.

I have Cleveland getting their first playoff series win over the New York Knicks, but I think it will go six or seven games. I’m not going to underestimate the Knicks. New York has talent on their team and they won 3 of the four meetings against the Cavs during the regular season.