WRAP-UP
Trailing by just a point at the break, it looked like the second half of Sunday’s matchup in New York would be another white-knuckle road affair for the Wine and Gold.
Instead, the young Cavaliers – led by a scorching Ricky Rubio – erupted after intermission, blowing past the Knicks for their fourth straight win, a convincing 126-109 decision at Madison Square Garden.
Cleveland went a jaw-dropping 13-of-17 from long-range in the second stanza – with Rubio drilling six of those bombs on seven second-half attempts – part of his game- and career-high 37-point explosion, going 8-of-9 from three-point range and 13-of-19 from the floor overall, adding a game-high 10 assists in 31 minutes of work off the bench.
Rubio got plenty of help on Sunday evening – as J.B. Bickerstaff’s young guns won their fifth road game in the past seven outings – including precocious rookie Evan Mobley, who followed up with a career-high of his own, finishing with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long-range, adding nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
Mobley wasn’t the only big who stayed hot. Jarrett Allen doubled-up in his fourth straight outing – finishing with 18 points and a game-high 17 boards to go with four assists and a pair of steals.
Over that four-game stretch, the Cavs starting center is averaging 20.5 points and 16.5 boards per.
Darius Garland, the hero of Friday night’s thriller in Toronto, rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, finishing with 16 points – going 4-of-5 from long-range and 6-of-14 from the field overall, adding five assists and a steal in the win.
Dylan Windler chipped in with nine points off the bench, going 3-of-4 from deep, adding four boards and an assist in 16 minutes of action.
Cleveland completely turned up the heat after halftime – shooting 64 percent from the floor and 77 percent from deep while dominating New York on the boards, 23-13, and holding the Knicks to 43 percent shooting. Julius Randle led the home squad with 19 points, seven boards and seven assists.
Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.
FEATURED HIGHLIGHT
Assist from Ricky Rubio leads to Jarrett Allen slamming it down on the Knicks in the 4th quarter.
TURNING POINT
It’s not hard to delineate Sunday evening’s turning point. It occurred when the Cavaliers came out of the locker room after halftime.
Both teams made early runs in a tight first half – with the Knicks taking a 57-56 edge into intermission. The Knicks took a two-point lead early in the third on Mitchell Robinson’s dunk, but that’s as good as it would get for Tom Thibodeau’s squad.
Over the next four minutes, Ricky Rubio drill four three-pointers – interspersed by dunks from Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen – to take a nine-point lead.
Mobley’s layup on a gorgeous feed from Rubio with 5:31 to play in the period gave Cleveland its first double-digit lead and forced the Knicks to call timeout. It didn’t matter. New York didn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
BY THE NUMBERS
By the Numbers - 1 … players in NBA history to come off the bench and tally at least 30 points, 10 assists, and eight three-pointers …
Ricky Rubio on Sunday night.
QUOTABLE
Jarrett Allen, on teammate, Evan Mobley’s cool composure in his first trip to Madison Square Garden …
”He works well under pressure. I know how New Yorkers can be – yelling, cheering, saying nasty things. But Evan stayed locked in for all four quarters and all 48 minutes. He didn’t let the moment get to him.”
CALLS OF THE GAME
Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers just endured one of the most grueling road stretches of the season and came out clean on the other side. Now, they return home for eight of the next 10 to close out the month of November.
On Wednesday, the Wine and Gold open a four-game homestand when they welcome Bradley Beal and the Wizards to town. Cleveland then hosts a weekend back-to-back – welcoming Cade Cunningham and the Pistons on Friday night followed by the first of two straight visits by the Boston Celtics on Saturday and the following Monday.