Donovan Mitchell delivers assertion as Knicks lose to Cavaliers

CLEVELAND — Someplace, Leon Rose needed to be regretting holding onto all these further draft picks. 

After months of commerce talks, the Knicks president couldn’t convey Donovan Mitchell dwelling, and the Knicks noticed up shut what sort of expertise they might’ve — and perhaps ought to’ve — had. 

Mitchell dominated the Knicks from begin to end, offering one other early-season reminder that this roster lacks a takeover celebrity in a 121-108 Cavaliers victory at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Sunday evening. 

Mitchell scored 38 factors and added 13 assists as Cleveland, even with out All-Star guard Darius Garland, owned the ultimate quarter to win its fifth straight sport. The Knicks, in the meantime, fell to 3-3, and 0-3 towards playoff-caliber opponents. Their perimeter protection was largely nonexistent, permitting the Cavs to hit 23 of fifty 3-point makes an attempt, eight off the bench from Kevin Love (29 factors). 

The Knicks’ stars, in the meantime, have been nowhere to be discovered down the stretch, as Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett mixed for six factors within the final quarter. Mitchell scored 12 himself. 

The Knicks’ bench, so sturdy to begin the yr, crumbled early within the fourth. The quarter started with 5 empty journeys in six possessions and three turnovers. A nine-point lead was erased in a barrage of Love 3-pointers and Mitchell’s four-point play with 7:25 to go. Love’s four-point play, simply over two minutes later, gave the Cavs the lead for good. From there, Mitchell completely took over, sinking a 3-pointer to increase the result in 9 and establishing Love for one more 3 to place the sport away. 

Mitchell began the sport like he was shot out of a cannon, producing 15 factors and 5 assists within the opening 8:39. The Knicks began slow-footed veteran Evan Fournier on Mitchell, and he torched him from deep. At one level, Mitchell walked right into a 25-footer — one among his 5 first-quarter 3’s — prefer it was nothing because the shot clock expired, and both scored or assisted on all 14 Cavaliers factors in an electrical 14-5 run that gave them a 10-point edge late within the first quarter. 

The Knicks did properly to remain shut, responding to that Mitchell-led run with 10 consecutive factors of their very own. They have been down by simply three on the break regardless of their porous 3-point protection that enabled the Cavs to hit 12 of twenty-two from downtown. 

Barrett entered the sport 4 of 28 from distance, and hit all three of his makes an attempt from past the arc within the first half. He was the Knicks’ finest participant within the opening 24 minutes, proper forward of their key reserves, Isaiah Hartenstein and Immanuel Quickley. After his off sport on Friday, Brunson didn’t begin significantly better, taking pictures 1-for-7 within the opening half and missed photographs he had been making the higher a part of the early season. 

He picked it up after halftime, keying a 12-1 Knicks run that turned a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead. The Cavs stormed proper again, beginning with a Mitchell 3-pointer and ultimately received even on Dean Wade’s 3-pointer, however Brunson and Co. saved pushing in what was arguably their finest quarter of the season. When it was over, the Knicks have been up 9, after outscoring the Cavaliers 34-22, forcing 4 turnovers and holding Cleveland to three of 15 taking pictures from deep. Brunson scored 12 factors within the body, shaking off his sluggish first half.