New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, and the New York Knicks spoiled LeBron James' homecoming, topping the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-90, at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday night.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a quick start, taking an 11-point lead early in the second quarter. However, the Knicks slowly chipped away, and by halftime, Cleveland was only up 44-42.
New York proceeded to drop 53 points on the Cavs during the second half, 16 of those coming from Anthony.
The Knicks shot 53.6 percent from the floor overall and converted on six of their 12 three-point attempts. They also assisted on 30 of their 37 made field goals.
James appeared affected by nerves, as the perennial All-Star shot only 5-of-15 from the floor and matched a career high with eight turnovers.
As a team, the Cavaliers coughed up the rock 19 times, leading to 26 New York points.
| Carmelo Anthony | A |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | C- |
| J.R. Smith | B+ |
| Iman Shumpert | B |
| Rest of Team | A- |
| LeBron James | D- |
| Kevin Love | B+ |
| Kyrie Irving | A- |
| Anderson Varejao | C+ |
| Rest of Team | F |
New York Knicks
Carmelo Anthony: A
Carmelo Anthony was spectacular.
He scored 25 points, 16 of those coming in the second half. He was also huge down the stretch, hitting six of his last seven shots, including a beautiful baseline jumper over LeBron James to essentially seal the game late.
What's more, Anthony did a nice job facilitating, handing out six assists.
Melo went 9-of-17 from the floor, knocking down a couple of treys and going 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Finally, he was a plus-nine in the win.
Amar'e Stoudemire: C-
Amar'e Stoudemire wasn't particularly efficient on this night.
The big man went only 3-of-8 from the floor, scoring eight points in 24 minutes. He did, however, do a solid job of setting screens to create lanes for Anthony, so at least there was that.
Stoudemire totaled four boards as well.
J.R. Smith: B+
J.R. Smith got off to a rocky start in this one, leading some to question whether he has any idea of what the triangle offense really is.
However, Smith settled down and actually ended up having himself a decent outing.
He stayed under control for most of the night, taking only 10 shots (he made five), and he dished out a rather impressive seven assists.
Smith also made a big teardrop to put the Knicks up five with under 50 seconds to play.
Perhaps learning this offense will not be as complicated for Smith as the masses feel.
Smith scored 11 points.
Iman Shumpert: B
For a guy who struggled with his confidence so much last season, Iman Shumpert looked awfully good on Thursday night.
The Georgia Tech product scored 11 points off 4-of-7 shooting and did a solid job of handling the ball when New York needed to beat the press.
Of course, Shumpert was hardly a showstopper in this contest, but he looked significantly better than last year. He stayed the course and played within himself.
Shumpert also grabbed three rebounds in 29 minutes.
Rest of Team: A-
Quincy Acy was outstanding in 22 minutes. Although he ended up fouling out, one of the newest Knicks posted eight points and 10 boards, six of those coming on the offensive glass.
Jason Smith was brilliant too, spotting up for mid-range jumpers and burying five of his six shots. He totaled 12 points.
Second-year guard Shane Larkin also had a solid outing, tallying nine points and doing an incredible job of playing the passing lanes with five steals.
Finally, Pablo Prigioni hit a pair of triples for six points, and Cole Aldrich gave New York 14 good minutes off the pine, pulling down six rebounds.
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James: D-
LeBron James got off to an inauspicious start in his return home.
The superstar went only 1-of-9 in the first half and displayed very sloppy handles, turning the ball over three times in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, this continued throughout the rest of the contest for James.
The two-time champion ended with 17 points off a paltry 5-of-15 clip, turning the ball over eight times overall, which matched a career high.
To make matters worse, James was a game-worst minus-13.
You have to think LeBron will be much better next game now that he got the home opener out of the way.
Kevin Love: B+
Unlike James, Kevin Love got off to a terrific start, recording 11 points in the first period and giving the Knicks fits with his ability to space the floor.
However, Love slowed down considerably as the night progressed, as he scored only eight points the rest of the way.
Love remained a force on the boards for most of the night, grabbing 14, but seven of those came during those explosive first 12 minutes.
Love finished with 19 points off 6-of-14 shooting and also handed out four assists.
The forward put up solid numbers, but his ineffectiveness down the stretch hurt his team dearly.
Kyrie Irving: A-
Kyrie Irving was probably the best and most consistent of the Cavs' Big Three Thursday night.
Irving did a fine job of attacking the basket all game, scoring 22 points off 8-of-14 shooting. With James struggling, he sensed that he needed to get more aggressive, and he did just that.
Irving posted six assists and five rebounds to go along with his point total.
It would be terrific if Cleveland can get this Irving night in and night out.
Anderson Varejao: C+
Anderson Varejao was relatively quiet.
He tallied 10 points off 4-of-5 shooting, but he did not make his usual impact on the glass, hauling in only four boards.
Varejao also did not provide much in the way of rim protection.
Cleveland will need more from the Brazilian if it wants to be serious about contending this season.
Rest of Team: F
There wasn't much to write home about for Cleveland in terms of production from its role players.
Dion Waiters had a fairly subdued evening, scoring 10 points off 4-of-9 shooting. Then, in terms of bench production, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova contributed six points apiece.
Shawn Marion played 10 minutes but went scoreless.
Twelve bench points is just not going to cut it.
Coming Up Next
The Knicks will host the Charlotte Hornets Nov. 2.
The Cavaliers will travel to Chicago to play the Bulls Oct. 31.
