Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Cleveland Cavaliers rode the hot shooting of Kyrie Irving in a 90-87 victory over the New York Knicks Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Irving scored a season-high 37 points on 12-of-18 shooting, throwing an otherwise solid Knicks defense into disarray whenever he wanted.
On the other end, New York was again plagued by an excess of mid-range shots, making it difficult to get to the free-throw line. The Knicks won the rebound, assist, steal and block battles, but they shot just 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, compared to Cleveland's 21-of-26.
| LeBron James | B |
| Kyrie Irving | A+ |
| Kevin Love | C |
| Anderson Varejao | D |
| Rest of Team | F |
| Carmelo Anthony | D- |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | A |
| Iman Shumpert | D+ |
| Jose Calderon | D- |
| Tim Hardaway | B+ |
| Rest of Team | C- |
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James: B
In November, it was just kind of assumed that LeBron James would eventually snap out of his early-season malaise and start dominating games the way he has for most of the past decade. Now well into December, he's still struggling to find that unmatchable gear in which he played in the past.
But even this incarnation of James can clearly impact a game. On pure talent alone, he's putting up huge numbers as Cleveland's de facto point guard.
His 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting don't jump off the screen, but 12 assists do. Defensively, he grabbed four rebounds, but he struggled to stay in front of Carmelo Anthony, whose bad night can mostly be attributed to simply missing open shots.
Kyrie Irving: A+
Forget what the media guide or NBA.com designation tells you; Irving is not the point guard on this team. With James' playmaking skills getting everyone involved, Irving has the freedom to just go out and score.
The shooting guard with "PG" next to his name went off, scoring with a nice mix of jump shots and his signature stylized drives. Seventeen of his points came in the second quarter alone, when it looked like no other Cav had any interest in the game.
All of the shooting was partly responsible for Irving only dishing out two assists. And his lack of distributing once again drew criticism.
Most should eventually accept what Irving's true position and role is on this team. But until then, he might have to rely on game-sealing floaters like this beauty to hold the critics at bay.
"Kyrie Irving crosses Iman Shumpert and throws up a beautiful teardrop over Amar'e https://t.co/K55YbvD46D
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 5, 2014"
Kevin Love: C
Just when it looked like Kevin Love was coming out of his slump, the defensive stylings of Quincy Acy and his compadres in the Knicks frontcourt resurrected his troubles.
Acy, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jason Smith and Samuel Dalembert all got turns on Love, and all were physical. They forced him away from his comfort zones, and Love quickly became frustrated, throwing up his hands and staring at the refs in exasperation.
He finished with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting against the stingy interior defense. That shouldn't make you think it was a terrible game, though. He still managed a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds.
Anderson Varejao: D
Anderson Varejao was equally frustrated by the Knicks' bigs. Cleveland's center is typically a terror on the boards, but he was held to just three.
Offensively, he couldn't find as many cutting lanes and opportunities to slip picks as he typically does, finishing with just eight points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Perhaps most importantly, Varejao really struggled defensively, allowing a true throwback Thursday performance from Stoudemire.
Rest of Team: F
Cleveland's depth was once again called into question. Only three players—Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Mike Miller—got more than four minutes off the bench. That trio combined for eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
One or two of Cleveland's reserves has to earn more minutes if Cleveland's going to have their championship aspirations come to fruition. Irving had to play 44 minutes, and James and Love had to play 39, to beat the woeful Knicks in December.
New York Knicks
Carmelo Anthony: D-
Other than the 10 rebounds he collected, and a few nice moments on defense, this game was a disaster for Carmelo Anthony.
He looked off from the opening tip, clanking open jumpers and losing the handle left and right. He finished with just nine points on 4-of-19 shooting to go with five turnovers.
He's the only great scorer on the roster, and when he plays like this, 87 points on a terrible defensive team is what you get.
Amar'e Stoudemire: A
New York led most of the game and stayed close in the fourth quarter thanks in large part to a dynamic performance from Stoudemire, who was dunking on people like he was still wearing the purple and orange of the Phoenix Suns.
He wound up with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and almost notched a double-double with nine rebounds. Each bucket and board was like some kind of flashback to a time when Stoudemire's footwork and explosiveness made him a nightmare for every defense in the NBA.
On the other end, his intensity spearheaded a team effort that stymied anything Cleveland tried to run for its bigs.
Really, the only gripe would be that Stoudemire was loose with the ball, tying Anthony for a team-high five turnovers.
Iman Shumpert: D+
Iman Shumpert was one of a few different defenders coach Derek Fisher threw at Irving. As you can see by the Cleveland guard's line, Shumpert wasn't successful in slowing him down.
That, in combination with seemingly disappearing on offense, had Shumpert on the bench for nearly half of the game. He finished with zero points on 0-of-4 shooting in 25 minutes.
That's not to say he didn't do anything right, though, as he grabbed six boards and handed out four assists.
Jose Calderon: D-
Jose Calderon was even less of a factor than Shumpert, dishing out three assists and scoring three points on 1-of-5 shooting.
He was clearly outmatched physically by Irving on both ends of the floor, and when he's not hitting those three-point attempts, it's hard to keep him out there.
Tim Hardaway: B+
The Knicks were led in scoring by an unlikely hero, Tim Hardaway, who came into the game averaging 8.2 points on 39 percent shooting.
His 20 points on 8-of-14 from the field paced the Knicks and gave them a nice inside-out combo with Stoudemire.
Rest of Team: C-
Four other Knicks—J.R. Smith, Jason Smith, Shane Larkin and Samuel Dalembert—played 13 minutes or more off the bench.
Smith went for nine points on 4-of-8 shooting. Dalembert grabbed nine rebounds and scored six points. And the rest of the bench combined for seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Coming Up Next
The Cavaliers will continue their road trip with the second game of a back-to-back Friday against the Toronto Raptors at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Knicks will also hit the road, taking on the Charlotte Hornets Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
