Key: Knick of Time
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The Cavaliers started the month of February the way they completed the month of January at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, still looking for their first home win since a December 23 victory over the Hawks. But once again, they’ll have a good opportunity – taking on the Lottery-bound Knicks for the final time this season.
The Wine & Gold dropped their 10th straight home contest on Saturday night – falling to the Warriors in a contest that got away from Cleveland after intermission. Actually, it was a 9-0 run just before half that sealed the Cavs’ fate – as the Warriors shot 68 percent from the floor and canned 10 three-pointers in the third quarter alone.
The Knicks are coming off an impressive win over the Pacers on Saturday – opening up an early 17-point advantage and holding on from there. Their previous contest featured an ugly ending with Elfrid Payton and Jae Crowder mixing it up late, earning Payton a one-game suspension.
The Cavaliers have had plenty of success against the Knicks over the past few years – winning 16 of the last 20 matchups, including a 108-87 win in early November at Madison Square Garden.
Key: Guard Duty
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Collin Sexton plays with a chip on his shoulder no matter what the situation, but he had a little extra edge on Saturday night after learning that he’d been snubbed from the Rising Stars Challenge.
The Young Bull extended his streak of scoring at least 23 points to four straight contests – his longest stretch since a seven-game run last season. So far this year, the former Alabama standout is averaging 19.6ppg – good for third-best among all second-year players. Sexton has now scored at least 20 points on 23 occasions this year.
Sexton has also done well against New York over his first two years – averaging 20.5 points per in six career meetings.
With rookie R.J. Barrett still on the shelf, the Knicks don’t have much scoring punch from their backcourt.
Dennis Smith Jr. has tallied double-figure scoring just four times all season. Frank Ntilikina is averaging 5.3 points per in three games against the Cavs this season. Reggie Bullock has notched double-figures in just seven games since returning from injury.
Key: Facing Forward
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Kevin Love continues to pile up milestones as a Cavalier and passed a couple on Saturday night – playing in his 700th career game and passing Jim Chones for 7th on the franchise’s all-time defensive rebounds list.
In the process, the five-time All-Star tallied his 18th double-double of the season – finishing with 14 points, 11 boards and a team-high five assists. Love has also topped the 20-point plateau in four of his last six outings.
Love has posted double-figure scoring in both meetings against New York this year, but has struggled shooting the ball, hitting at a 32 percent clip.
Marcus Morris Sr. spent some time last week apologizing for some inappropriate comments about Jae Crowder, then went out and put up a big performance to shut everyone up – notching a game-high 28 points in the Knicks Saturday night win over the Pacers.
Morris is the Knicks leading scorer at 19.6ppg and is averaging 17.0ppg in three meetings against the Wine and Gold this season.