Game Thread | Knicks playoff series Game #5 | Knicks @ Cavs | April 26, 2023 | 7:00 NBA TV

[2 For The Brew]

That's the worse case scenario out the gate. The fans getting quiet.

Best case scenario overall is a 20+ win and an injury to Brunson or Robinson

A Knick fan friend didn't like that - said I'm wishing injury lol but I'm not. It's just the best case scenario

I’d like a 40 & 40 from DM and DG.

The absolute best case is Okoro 5/5 from three where they have to guard him and it opens up the floor a bit.

 

[The Oi]

Ugh. No ESPN. I'm in Ecuador right now - so another game that I can't watch in a bar...unless I bring my iPad to a bar. Ugh. Can't they stagger games a little better? I guess not - can't really stagger 3 weekday evening games. It's funny how they treat the games in the Garden like huge events (ABC) and then bury the Cleveland games involving the same 2 teams.

Anyway, I think we'll know if the Cavs win this one by the time there are 5 mins left in the first.

Do your captors have it?

Type Esc twice on your next post if you need someone to rescue you.

 

[CavsFaninNJ]

I’d like a 40 & 40 from DM and DG.

The absolute best case is Okoro 5/5 from three where they have to guard him and it opens up the floor a bit.

40 and 40 wow. yeah doesn't get much better than that - no matter how much they win by.

Okoro hitting 3s would also be great.

If they can keep that team off the boards, everything should be a lot easier. The home crowd will roar at each stop and defensive rebound, fueling the offense.

 

[letgocavs]

One game at a time

 

[jjvors]

Must win game. At last RCF is united.

Cavs win tonight 115-96. 70% chance. Buy your tickets to NYC now.

 

[The Oi]

Someone make a shoddily designed Escape From NY photoshop.

 

[Cavatt]

I just want to see some guts before they go out. Smarter and tougher play and they can win out. I don't really expect it with the variance we have seen from this team. I really think JB should say after each quarter, "Ok we made it to overtime."

They always play well in overtime for some reason when they get tight at the end of the 4th

 

[kevincleveland]

Breaking news, Windler is out. Not that he would play, but Im getting weepy thinking this could be the last time he sits on the Cavs bench.

 

[2 For The Brew]

Someone make a shoddily designed Escape From NY photoshop.

Make sure there’s a good shot of Adrienne Barbeau included. She inspired the Beatles Song “All you need is tits.”

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Might be the last night of Cavs basketball for 6 months. It was a fun ride, for a while.

Lots of work to do, before this team is a genuine contender. Need the front office to work some miracles, in order to get us more shooting and wing defenders. And then we have to see, next year, how long the team has to spin its wheels, before the FO admits that JBB puts a ceiling on this team, lower than it has to be.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I'm afraid tonight will turn out to be a valuable learning experience.

They need to have Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert on the floor as much as possible and whoever Brunson is guarding gets the ball and takes it to him. Make Brunson play defense every time down, hopefully for 15-23 seconds. If they help him then hit the open man and make the shot.

The Knicks still have not scored more than 102 points in any game. We just need some offense.

Mobley is 3-for-18 on non-dunks in the paint. It would help if he could make a few jumpers or jump hooks in the paint, but he's usually surrounded by Knicks and rushes his shot.

Okoro knocking down a couple of corner 3's in the first half would also help.

Need all hands on deck.

 

[2 For The Brew]

I'm afraid tonight will turn out to be a valuable learning experience.

They need to have Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert on the floor as much as possible and whoever Brunson is guarding gets the ball and takes it to him. Make Brunson play defense every time down, hopefully for 15-23 seconds. If they help him then hit the open man and make the shot.

The Knicks still have not scored more than 102 points in any game. We just need some offense.

Mobley is 3-for-18 on non-dunks in the paint. It would help if he could make a few jumpers or jump hooks in the paint, but he's usually surrounded by Knicks and rushes his shot.

Okoro knocking down a couple of corner 3's in the first half would also help.

Need all hands on deck.

102 points on an 87 pace is reasonably efficient offense. Our defense isn’t as good as the score makes it appear.

 

[Dr No]

A poster named "kriegs" posted this video in the series thread right after Game 4. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic takes about 35 minutes to break down Game 4 and his criticism of Bickerstaff is pretty harsh. I thought it was worth discussing here because I want to see if JBB makes any changes tonight.


Vecenie states that the Cavs have a "flawed roster" and that they've been "severely outcoached" in this series. Specifically, he says they have "no wings", which is pretty much what we've been saying all year.

He claims Cedi and Okoro have been exploited defensively by Brunson or a Knicks' big. Interestingly, he calls for Dean Wade to return to the rotation, calling him the only Cavaliers wing who can shoot. He says the Cavs are "OK with having a non-shooter or reluctant shooter" on the floor.

After the Cavs were outscored by 13 points in Wade's seven minutes in Game 1, Bickerstaff has not put him on the floor except for garbage time, so obviously JBB thinks he is of no use. Will he try him once more tonight if the Cavs are behind?

Vecenie has two main criticisms of Bickerstaff (besides not playing Wade); one offensive and one defensive. The defensive criticism is that JBB has Jarrett Allen roaming around and generally following the ball from side to side instead of guarding Robinson or Hartenstein. It's obvious that JBB wants Allen in position to contest the shot after Brunson, Barrett, or whoever attacks the paint beats his man off the dribble. JBB clearly has no confidence that Brunson in particular can be forced to miss the shot without a big man contesting.

The problem is that now Robinson or Hartenstein can easily get great offensive rebounding position with Allen drifting out to contest the shot. That would be fine if Allen blocks the shot, but he had NO blocks in Game 4. He was caught in no man's land where he couldn't block the mid-range jumper or floater but wasn't in position to get the rebound. The result was 17 offensive rebounds for the Knicks.

Vecenie called it a "scheme decision" by JBB that put Allen in a "bad position". At the 8:30 mark of the video he shows what he is talking about. It's clear Allen is just drifting around and not having much of an impact defensively.

The offensive criticism was that the Cavs did not come close to taking advantage of their opportunities to attack Brunson defensively. The Cavs had the most success at the beginning of the second half when Garland attacked Brunson on every possession, either scoring or assisting on 22 points as the Cavs went from 9 down at halftime to take the lead.

But when Cedi came in at the 3:32 mark the Knicks had Brunson guard Cedi and the Cavs only scored 2 points the rest of the quarter. Vecenie said the Cavs should have had Cedi set the screen and force Brunson to switch onto Garland. They didn't. The Cavs went 1-for-6 the rest of the quarter, not counting a half-court heave at the end.

For the future Vecenie doesn't know how the Cavs can go any further with three non-shooters on the floor (Okoro, Mobley, and Allen). He's not sure the Allen/Mobley pairing works in the playoffs and he suggests the Cavs should consider trading Allen sooner rather than later. But those are questions for the off-season.

For tonight and this weekend (if there is a weekend), the question is whether JBB will have Allen play in the low post to better position himself for defensive rebounds and trust LeVert and Okoro to make Brunson miss, or whether he will continue to have Allen playing away from the rim and in position to help on the shooter, leaving the Cavs vulnerable once again to offensive rebounds.

Also, whether the Cavs will attack Brunson relentlessly with Garland, Mitchell, or LeVert, beating him off the dribble and getting into the paint, forcing Robinson to contest and opening up lobs to Allen or Mobley and kickouts to the corner for open 3's.

I know I sound like a Wade homer, but I've been saying that since it became obvious that we were playing the Knicks. The matchup dictated we needed Wade because he's the only one capable of providing size, shooting and defense. He wasn't terrible in his 7 minutes. The awful +/- was way more about Mitchell, who was all we had in game 1, going to the bench at the same time Randle got hot than anything else. Yes, he missed his only 3 badly, but he made his 2 free throws. And for goodness sake - it was only 7 minutes when our whole team was stinking. Unless he really is still hurt and JBB knows he can't compete, it has been absolutely asinine to park his butt on the bench while the Knicks mercilessly abuse the the rest of the wings for 15 straight quarters. Wade might get abused too, but this is not about whether or not Wade is a good player, its about him being the only option we have and not giving him an opportunity when the team needs him.

 

[daytripper]

They will need Donovan to put this team on his back.

Sorry to say I've lost any and all confidence in the coaching staff to make the right adjustments.

We basically need both Donovan and Garland to make their season % on 3's to have a really good chance to win this game. Okoro or LeVert hitting a few would be a huge help too.

I agree with @Wham that the Knicks are not going to suddenly score much over their 102 ppg average on the road tonight.

Let's go Cavs! One game at a time fellas...

 

[Goldin Brown]

We got relegated to NBA TV