Straight off a victory last night over the top-seeded 76ers, the Cleveland Cavaliers will try to make it two straight wins in back-to-back days when they take on the defending champion, New York Knicks. The Cavaliers ended the 76ers’ five-game winning streak with a 119-95 victory Friday night. Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and the defense held LeBron James to eight points in his return to Cleveland. The Knicks have made up for their slow start to the season, winning four of their last five games. They defeated the Bulls 135-105 last Wednesday. Jalen Brunson had 33 points and the team scored a franchise-high 84 points in the first half in the blowout win. The Knicks will be the better rested team following two days of rest.
Tonight’s game will be the first time these two teams meet since they met in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Cavaliers will try to show they are better than they performed after being swept by the Knicks in their attempt to get back to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers will have to do it without some key players in their lineup. Center Jarrett Allen will continue to miss time after knocking knees with Jared McCain a couple games back. Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill, two key perimeter players for the Cavaliers, are also expected to be out with injury. The Knicks showed in last year's playoffs the dominance they can play with; they defeated the Cavaliers by double-digits in all four games of the East Finals. With Brunson averaging 25.6 points and 5.1 assists per game, the Knicks are once again looking like the team that cruised through the East to get to the NBA Finals last year. With Allen out of the lineup, Brunson should be able to attack the paint without a fear of his shot getting blocked or pass deflected. The Cavaliers are a good team at home, but I don’t like them in this spot to get their revenge against New York considering their injuries and playing in the second half of a back-to-back.
Knicks vs Cavaliers prediction: New York -5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -6.
