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The hot Cleveland Cavaliers host the streaking New York Knicks in a Top-3 Eastern Conference battle Friday at 7 PM ET on ESPN. Cleveland went into the All-Star break, winning four straight and 8-of-9 and just took down the Brooklyn Nets last night. The Cavaliers are comfortably 5.5 games ahead of the second-place Boston Celtics.
Meanwhile, the Knicks won 9-of-11 going into the break and sit in third place in the conference, eight games behind Cleveland after outlasting the Chicago Bulls in OT last night. Both teams advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and are trying to advance a step or two further this year.
This is the second of four matchups between the old rivals this year, with Cleveland winning the first game at Madison Square Garden in late October, 110-104. Let’s review each team’s recent performance while previewing this matchup and making a Knicks @ Cavaliers pick.
The Knicks are 37-18, just 2.5 games behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division. Tom Thibodeau has guided New York to the playoffs three times in four years.
The Knicks are on a string run right now, rolling right now, having won 10 of their last 12 games. That includes a crazy back-and-forth, 113-111 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls last night. Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and added 18 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson had 22 points and 12 assists. Miles McBride contributed 23 points and 6 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Brunson leads the Knicks with 26.0 points per game, while Towns continues to impress after coming over from the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 24.9 points a game. His 13.5 rebounds per contest are second in the NBA. Mikal Bridges (17.7 PPG), OG Anunoby (16.4 PPG), and Hart (14.7 ppg, 9.6 REB) complement the league’s fourth-highest scoring offense, as the Knicks are averaging 118.4 points a game.
Brunson had 21 points and 7 rebounds, Bridges had 19 points, and Hart added 16 points and 13 rebounds in New York’s loss to the Cavaliers in October.
The Cavaliers, under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson, possess the league’s best record at 45-10. They won eight of their last nine games coming into the break, punctuated by a 110-97 beatdown of the Brooklyn Nets in their previous outing.
Donovan Mitchell had 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists to lead four Cleveland players in double figures. Recent pickup De’Andre Hunter scored 9 points, and Darius Garland had 18 points and 9 assists. Evan Mobley (18 points and 13 rebounds) and Jarrett Allen (16 points and 20 rebounds) each posted double-doubles.
Mitchell (24.0 PPG), Garland (21.6 PPG, 6.7 AST), and Mobley (18.5 PPG, 9.2 REB) were each named All-Stars, with Atkinson coaching at the event due to the Cavaliers’ first-place standing. Allen is averaging a double-double for the season at 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds a game.
Hunter came over from the Hawks just ahead of the break in a deal that sent Caris LeVert and Georges Niang to Atlanta. He’s averaged 15.0 points since joining and adds to an already lethal offense currently ranked second in the NBA at 122.7 points a game.
Garland had 34 points, Mitchell 25, and Allen added 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers in the win over New York earlier this season.
This will be the second game of a back-to-back for both teams. The Cavaliers opened the second half tonight at the Brooklyn Nets, while the Knicks hosted the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden. Both teams picked up wins, but the Knicks needed overtime to do so. This will be a challenge for New York, traveling to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Cleveland is 25-4 at home, best in the East. However, the team has lost three of their last eight games in front of the home fans.
The Knicks are 17-8 on the road this season, including four straight wins. New York is making a move, and Towns and Brunson are a big reason why. Look for the Knicks to pull off the upset in Cleveland tonight, with Towns scoring more than 25 points.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.