Cavs Eliminated in Round 1, Fall to Knicks in Game 5

That wasn’t supposed to be the way it ended. 

The 51-win Cavaliers ran into a more physical, more experienced team in the postseason, and on Wednesday night, the Knicks hammered that point home one last time – going wire-to-wire for the 106-95 win in Game 5 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, completing the gentleman’s sweep and sending Cleveland home for the summer.

After winning Game 2 last Tuesday night, the young Cavaliers looked overmatched through most of the next three games, including Wednesday’s loss in which they were bullied again on the glass – losing the rebounding battle, 48-30, with New York dominating the offensive boards, 17-4. 

Mitchell Robinson – who snagged 11 of his 18 boards off the offensive glass – and Josh Hart – who grabbed a dozen boards overall – equaled the entire Cavs team’s total in the deciding Game 5.

The Cavaliers never led on Wednesday, with the aggressive Knicks jumping out to a double-digit lead late in the first quarter and barely looked back. New York led by 12 points to start the final quarter, and the Wine and Gold made a brief push to cut that lead in half with just over eight minutes to play. But the Knicks answered with a 6-0 run to stem Cleveland’s momentum.

Donovan Mitchell led both teams with 28 points, but he struggled again from the floor, going 11-for-26 overall, including 3-of-12 from long-range, adding seven boards, five assists, a pair of steals and a block. 

Darius Garland chipped in 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, adding four assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. 

Caris LeVert pitched in with 17 points, going 6-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from deep, adding five boards, four assists and a steal. 

Isaac Okoro rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep. 

New York’s Jalen Brunson, easily the best player in the series, led New York with 23 points and R.J. Barrett added 21. Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart each grabbed double-digit boards and Immanuel Quickly added 19 points off the bench – equaling the combined point total of Cleveland’s second unit on Wednesday.

There was barely a noticeable turning point in Wednesday’s frustrating loss. But it would most likely be New York snuffing Cleveland fourth-quarter rally midway through the period. 

Trailing by as many as 18 points late in the third quarter, the Cavs cut New York’s lead to a dozen after three. Darius Garland began heating up and drilled three straight buckets to get the Cavs to within six – 90-84 – with just over eight minutes to play. 

But free throws by R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, followed by an alley-oop dunk to Mitchell Robinson, pushed the Knicks lead back to 12 at the 6:13 mark. The Cavs would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. 

.625 | .444 … Isaac Okoro’s shooting percentage from the floor (10-of-16) and from three-point range (4-of-9) over the last three games of the First Round series against New York. 

Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, on Wednesday’s season-ending loss …

“We talked about how valuable these experiences, these learning lessons are for us. We talked about it, but these are experiences you can’t understand until you go through it. These guys had a phenomenal regular season. Each of them grew in their own different way. Those guys should be proud. They brought this organization back to where it’s talked about as a promising organization ahead in the future. As much as it hurts, these are the things you go through to make you a better basketball player.”

Enjoy the calls of the game from Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernendez-Brito.

The offseason.