Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks: Postgame Grades and Analysis
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving scored 18 points apiece, Kevin Love posted 16 points and 16 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the New York Knicks, 101-83, at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon.
This game was never close, as the Cavaliers jumped out to a 36-17 lead after one quarter of action and never looked back.
Cleveland shot 51 percent from the floor and went 12-of-33 from three-point range.
Langston Galloway led the Knicks with 13 points.
New York shot only 37 percent, going 3-of-19 from long distance.
Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. had a depressed tone postgame, per Ian Begley of ESPN New York:
The Knicks are now a brutal 10-45 on the season.
| LeBron James | B |
| Kyrie Irving | A- |
| Kevin Love | A |
| J.R. Smith | A- |
| Timofey Mozgov | B- |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Jose Calderon | F |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | F |
| Langston Galloway | B |
| Lou Amundson | B+ |
| Lance Thomas | C+ |
| Rest of Team | B |
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James: B
LeBron James wasn't dominant Sunday afternoon, but he didn't need to be.
He put forth an effective effort overall, registering 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four turnovers in 28 minutes.
James did not shoot the ball very well, going 7-of-17 and misfiring on five of his six three-point tries, but he did make some great drives and finishes. He also made some great finds to teammates at the three-point line, collapsing the defense with dribble penetration and using his court vision to locate open shooters.
LeBron was most effective in transition, getting a couple of dunks off of leakouts.
Kyrie Irving: A-
Kyrie Irving put on a dazzling ball-handling display against the Knicks, utilizing a variety of crossovers and behind-the-back moves to put the entire New York defense into a blender.
He also finished at the rim well, going 6-of-10 from the floor for 18 points.
Irving only tallied a pair of assists, but that is a bit misleading, as he still did a great job of running the Cavaliers offense and confusing the Knicks defense.
He also only committed two turnovers.
Kevin Love: A
Kevin Love was the best player on the floor Sunday.
The big man was efficient, scoring 16 points off 7-of-14 shooting, and was an animal on the glass, pulling down 16 boards in just 29 minutes of action.
Love took advantage of New York's shaky defense, making the opposing big men have to contest threes on the perimeter and using his quicker feet to beat them to the baseline for shots at the rim.
He also did not register a single turnover and was a game-high plus-28.
J.R. Smith: A-
J.R. Smith certainly enjoyed his return to Madison Square Garden.
Returning to New York for the first time since being traded to Cleveland, Smith recorded 17 points off 7-of-11 shooting (3-of-5 from deep), including a rim-rocking alley-oop slam that drew oohs and ahs from the crowd in the fourth quarter.
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt was loving it, per Steve Popper of NorthJersey.com:
Many may have expected Smith to force up a lot of bad shots in this contest, but he stayed within himself and mainly took what the defense gave him.
This was an impressive, under-control performance from Smith.
Timofey Mozgov: B-
We saw the good and bad of Timofey Mozgov against the Knicks.
The center posted seven points and six rebounds and served as a solid rim deterrent, blocking one shot and forcing New York into some difficult attempts at the rack.
That was the good part.
The bad part was that Mozgov turned the ball over four times, which is quite a lot for a big man who rarely handles the rock.
Rest of Team: B
Iman Shumpert only scored four points off the bench, but he was able to record an impressive seven assists, including a nice alley-oop find to Smith in the fourth quarter.
Matthew Dellavedova led the Cavs bench with eight points, and Tristan Thompson added five points and three rebounds. However, Thompson also committed four fouls in 22 minutes.
Otherwise, there wasn't much doing from Cleveland's reserves, largely because the starters did more than enough to take care of business.
New York Knicks
Jose Calderon: F
Jose Calderon was awful in the loss.
The floor general went only 2-of-9 from the field, scoring four points and tallying a pair of assists. He was also burned by Irving numerous times defensively. Sure, that is expected, but it still counts.
To make things worse, Calderon had three turnovers.
Tim Hardaway Jr.: F
It has been a rough season for Tim Hardaway Jr., and it continued against Cleveland.
The sophomore guard shot only 3-of-12 from the floor, misfiring badly on a few shots and going only 1-of-8 from long distance. He had some good looks too.
Hardaway scored only seven points.
Langston Galloway: B
Langston Galloway was decent in the defeat.
The young guard posted 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. He was active on both ends, playing the passing lanes defensively and deflecting quite a few balls.
He also displayed some defensive versatility, getting some burn on Irving and even switching onto James on a couple of occasions and holding his own.
Galloway was only 5-of-14, but he did a lot of little things and only turned the ball over once.
Lou Amundson: B+
Lou Amundson had a solid game.
As always, the gritty forward gave 100 percent effort and also presented Mozgov some problems with his hustle. Knicks head coach Derek Fisher praised him afterward, per the team's official Twitter feed:
He scored 10 points off 5-of-10 shooting, including two transition dunks. Amundson also grabbed six rebounds, three of those coming on the offensive glass.
To add on, Amundson collected three steals.
Lance Thomas: C+
Much like Amundson, Lance Thomas was able to bring some energy in this one.
Thomas was a bit less efficient, shooting 5-of-12, but he made some mid-range jumpers and also stuck his nose in some scrums for loose balls.
Thomas finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes.
Rest of Team: B
Andrea Bargnani actually had a couple of nice moves in garbage time, throwing down a couple of dunks. He ended with a solid line of 11 points, five rebounds and three dimes in 27 minutes.
Quincy Acy also scored 11 points, but he did it off a rather inefficient 4-of-10 clip.
Travis Wear chipped in 10 off 5-of-9 shooting and also pulled down six boards in 19 minutes.
What's Next?
The Cavaliers will head to The Palace of Auburn Hills on Tuesday night to take on the feisty Detroit Pistons at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, the Knicks will trek over to TD Garden to battle the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday night.
