Here's a good take on the series:
This is a very good breakdown although a little biased in favor of the Cavs (but with solid reasons) and it also doesn't mention the Randle injury situation.
Some great points the guy who put it together made:
1. Jalen Brunson is 2-for-11 when guarded by Okoro. He torched Stevens and LeVert. (I noticed Mitchell couldn't stay with him, either).
(If Okoro can somewhat neutralize Brunson and Mobley can neutralize Randle we're in great shape. The question is whether Okoro will be fully recovered from his knee problem by this weekend.)
2. The Knicks have a great offense despite ranking 21st in field goal percentage, 29th in assists, 26th in points off turnovers, and playing at a slow pace. This is mainly due to committing very few turnovers and getting a lot of second chance points (3rd most).
Which brings us to defensive rebounding, where the Cavs are last in the NBA since the All-Star break. However, the video points out that Allen missed some time with the eye injury which was a huge hit to the Cavs' rebounding. They are in the 81st percentile with Allen on the floor and the 14th percentile when he is not - a gigantic difference. With Mobley contesting tons of shots the glass is open for offensive rebounds without Allen there to clean up.
Since Allen is good to go and expected to play major minutes, the Knicks offensive rebounding excellence should be contained.
The video also points out that the Cavs have the best player in Donovan Mitchell and frequently the team with the best player wins. Mitchell has four consecutive 40-point games and is on a roll. He is impossible to stay in front of and his array of moves in the paint are all but unstoppable. If you play off him he'll knock down the 3. He's averaging almost 32 points and 7.5 assists against the Knicks. They have not figured out how to contain him.
This should be an amazing series, possibly similar to the epic 2006 series between the Cavs and Wizards, where three of the six games were decided by one point. LeBron averaged 35.7 points while Gilbert Arenas averaged 34.0. The Cavs won 4-2 but the Wizards outscored the Cavs by a single point over the six games - it was THAT close. I could see Mitchell and Brunson dueling like LeBron and Gilbert in '06.
