Today's Matchup:
New York Knicks (10-44) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (34-22)
Madison Square Garden
MSG Network (1 p.m.)
Knicks Report
The new-look Knicks returned to action after a week-long All-Star break to face the Miami Heat on Friday night at MSG. Without Carmelo Anthony (knee surgery), Amar'e Stoudemire (waived) or Pablo Prigioni (traded to Houston), they led by one at the end of the 1st quarter and trailed by four with four minutes left in the 2nd, but Miami went on a run to close the half and pulled away in the 3rd en route to a 111-87 win.
Rookie Langston Galloway led the team in scoring with 19 points, playing tough defense on Dwyane Wade in the process. Tim Hardaway Jr. had one of his most efficient games, scoring 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Jose Calderon, now one of the team's veteran leaders on the floor, embraced that role with nine assists to go with his 11 points.
Today, Derek Fisher's squad will welcome new addition Alexey Shved to the mix after acquiring the Russian shooting guard from Houston in the Prigioni deal. Shved practiced with the team yesterday and he could be in line for playing time. He said he's excited to take the floor for the Knicks and looks forward to playing in the Triangle, which he boiled down to, "everybody move, pass the ball and shoot when they're open."
Cavaliers Report
Don't look now, but the team that stole all the headlines this summer has zoomed past its slow start, right back into Eastern Conference contention. Winners of 15 of the last 17 games, Cleveland's offense is up to 5th in the NBA in efficiency behind LeBron James, who is back to full strength after missing eight games with a back injury in early January.
In addition to James' return to health, the Cavs' improvement has a lot to do with a series of trades made months before the deadline that brought former Knicks Timofey Mosgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland in exchange for Dion Waiters and draft picks. Mosgov has added much-needed rim protection, Smith is thriving as a floor-spacer and Shumpert is playing the role of defensive stopper off the bench.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday, coach David Blatt called the addition of Smith and Shumpert "a godsend."
Keys to the Game
The Knicks will have to contend with Cleveland's multi-talented offensive attack; the first priority is keeping James out of the lane, but limiting Kyrie Irving's penetration and keeping Kevin Love off the glass will be just as important -- Irving sliced and diced New York for 37 points in their last meeting. Smith is jacking up nearly eight 3s per game, so finding him is also a top priority for the Knicks defensively...Shane Larkin (illness) did not play on Friday and is questionable for today.