1 stud and 1 dud as Knicks overpower Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
After dropping four consecutive games, the Knicks finally got a win at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night, taking them down 105-103. This was a much-needed win for a Knicks team that is desperately trying to remain in playoff contention.
Honestly, this game should not have been as close as it was, but thanks to some poor free throw shooting and 14 turnovers, the Knicks barely squeaked by. Alongside these issues, New York’s defense has continued to hurt the team, showing why the front office should highly consider trading for some defensive depth.
Regardless, a win is a win and fans can’t complain too much. In fact, it was nice to see the Knicks finally pull out with a victory in a closely contested game, something we haven’t seen much at all this season. Hopefully, as the season goes on the Knicks can learn from this matchup and continue to get better at closing things out down the stretch.
Julius Randle was the Knicks’ stud in the 105-103 win over Cavaliers
Dud: Jericho Sims
It’s hard to pin a poor performance on Jericho Sims as it’s tough enough for a player like him to start in today’s league, let alone go up against Jarrett Allen. However, a game like this shows how valuable Robinson is both offensively and defensively, especially the latter.
In 25 minutes of action, Sims dropped a measly two points and four rebounds while his counterpart Allen scored 24 points while snagging 13 rebounds, completely dominating the Knicks on both sides of the ball.
It’s surprising to see Sims starting, considering how often head coach Tom Thibodeau likes to overplay his veterans, but it honestly might not be a bad idea to start Isaiah Hartenstein until Robinson returns.
Hartenstein hasn’t been particularly good this season, but he is certainly more consistent on both sides of the ball than Sims and he provides flashes of playmaking when utilized properly on offense.
Again, I won’t be too critical of Sims, as he clearly needs more experience in the NBA before he can handle stars like Allen, but we certainly hoped for a better game out of the 24-year-old.
Stud: Julius Randle
This was the obvious choice, as Julius Randle was not only one of the few Knicks to have a genuinely “good” game, but he also had one of his best games of the season. He dropped 36 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists while shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 8-of-12 from behind the arc.
The eight threes from Randle tied his career high, which was previously set last season and has been tied once more this season.
You knew it was going to be a great game out of Randle when he ended the first quarter shooting 5-of-7 from behind the arc, helping keep the Knicks within two before he was subbed out for Obi Toppin, who also had an incredibly solid game despite receiving little minutes.
While Randle would eventually cool down from three, this didn’t stop him from finding success everywhere else on the floor, which led to as I mentioned before, one of Randle’s better games on the season.
Randle has been in a bit of a slump recently in terms of efficiency but on Tuesday he finally put it all together and delivered a big-time victory for the Knicks, even hitting a huge three with two minutes left to give the Knicks the lead.
The 2022-23 season in general has been amazing to watch from Randle, as following a pretty poor 2021-22 campaign, many were unsure if the Knicks should keep him around or not. However, through the first 49 games of the season, you could make a real argument that Randle is having a better year than his All-NBA season back in 2020-21.
Not only does it seem certain that Randle is going to make his second All-Star Game in two seasons, but he has been an incredibly huge part of the Knicks’ current success, being the team’s best player for the majority of the season.
