Knicks fall to shorthanded Cavaliers, 108-102, finish winless against East's top teams

The Knicks were defeated by the shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, despite leading by as many as 23 points in the first half.

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Apr 11, 2025 - 20:20
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Knicks fall to shorthanded Cavaliers, 108-102, finish winless against East's top teams

The Knicks fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-102 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Here are some takeaways...

- The Cavs (63-17) have already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference -- so as they did on Thursday night in Indiana, they rested a number of their key pieces including leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, and De'Andre Hunter.

- The Knicks also came into the night with four of their starting five questionable, but the only one who ended up sitting was Karl-Anthony Towns, which forced Mitchell Robinson into the lineup and he provided an immediate spark -- putting up five points and three boards as he played all 12 minutes in the first.

- New York started out very smooth offensively, with all five starters recorded a bucket in the opening quarter. As a team, they knocked down 7-of-10 threes while shooting a whopping 63 percent from the field to quickly open a double-digit advantage.

- Miles McBride and Landry Shamet provided a nice spark off the bench, knocking down three threes each and combining for 20 first-half points to help extended the lead to as much as 23 -- but Cleveland came surging back in the closing minutes of the second to cut into the deficit.

Jalen Brunson had an efficient half on his bobblehead night, finishing 6-of-9 with a game-high 15 points.

- The Knicks came out of the locker room strong led by OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, who scored 13 of the teams first 15 points in the half. The season-long third quarter struggles quickly resurfaced, though, and Cleveland was able to get it all the way back down to a one possession game.

Timely buckets down the stretch helped the Knicks carry an eight-point advantage into the final frame.

- The shorthanded Cavaliers refused to go away again, and a Darius Garland three at the five-minute mark in the fourth gave them their first lead of the game. Brunson helped keep the Knicks in it down the stretch, but they were unable to get key stops because of the hot shooting of Garland and Max Strus -- who drilled two big threes.

- Brunson finished with a game-high 27 points while Bridges contributed 17 and Anunoby pitched in 15. All three were outdone by Garland, who led the way for the Cavs with a 26-point and 13-assist double-double.

- New York finished the regular season winless (0-8) against the Cavs and Celtics.

- Despite the loss, the Knicks still locked up the No. 3 seed and a first round meeting with the Pistons thanks to Indiana losing to the Magic and the Bucks beating Detroit.

Game MVP: Darius Garland

Garland was terrific, leading the way for Cleveland with 26 points and 13 assists.

Highlights

Whats next

The Knicks close out the regular season with a meeting with the crosstown rival Nets on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

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