Knicks/Cavaliers--Game Thread/Preview

[Ming637]

@

<font color="blue">New York Knicks</font> vs <font color="red">Cleveland Cavaliers</font>

Date: 4/14/05
Time: 8:00 pm
TV: MSG, NBA League PAss

<u>New York KNicks</u>

Record: 30:47
Streak: Lost 1

Team Averages:

Team PPG: 96.7
Team APG: 20.2
Team RPG: 40.8
Team Field Goal Percentage: .449

<u>Knicks Starting Lineup

<font size="1">(Stephon Marbury,Jamal Crawford,Tim Thomas,Mike Sweetney,Kurt Thomas)</font>

6th Man

Team MVP:


Keys to the Game</u>

Transition Defense:
The last time the Knicks played Cleveland, the lack of transition defense, caused the Knicks to be humiliated on national television. The Knicks need to make sure they put effort in stopping the fastbreaks so the Cavaliers' easy baskets can be limited.

Perimeter Defense:
Perimter defense has always been a main concern for the Knicks this season, perhaps the greatest one. With the only legit center down low being Kurt Thomas, the Knicks perimeter defense has to be good. If not, too much pressure will be applied to Thomas to the point where he can be almost ineffective because in addition to taking care of his man, he needs to take care of the perimeters constant flaws.


Stop LeBron!
With LeBron James being nothing short of magnificent this season, the Knicks need to do all in their power to stop him. James the 20 year old from St. Vincent St. Mary's HS, in Cleveland, is perfectly capable of embarrassing the Knicks similarly to what he did in January. The Knicks can not double because James possess the courtvision of a point guard, however, if they play him man to man, he has a very good chance of burning a Knick with his deadly first step. They need to simply play smart and play off of instinct. That could be a good or a bad thing. Chances are, the results will be identical to the Knicks defending the rest of the league's stars...failure.


Team MVP

<u>Cleveland Cavaliers</u>

Record: 40-37
Streak: Won 2

Team Averages:

Team PPG: 96.4
Team APG: 22.5
Team RPG: 42.0
Team Field Goal Percentage: .448

Cavaliers Starting Lineup

<font size="1">(Jeff McInnis,Ira Newble,LeBron James,Drew Gooden,Zyrdunas Ilgauskis</font>

6th Man:

<u>Keys to the Game</u>

Be surre they know who's the boss
The Knicks are a lottery bound team and with them having nothing to fight for, they can play the role as 'spoiler' and give Cleveland a huge upset today. The Cavaliers need to make sure they always play aggressive. The Knicks have we have witnessed so many times this season, are very vulnerable to runs. A rally by the Cavaliers can easily be effective and can potentially dictate whether they play or stay home in the postseason.

RUN, RUN, RUN
Last time the Knicks played the Cavaliers in the Gund Arena, the Cavaliers simply dominated them in the transition game. Everyone on the Cavaliers bench got signifficant minutes as the Cavaliers in blowing out the Knicks.

Attack the paint
with no shot blockers or size on the Knicks, players such as Drew Gooden should attack the paint giving Kurt Thomas and Malik Rose foul trouble.

Team MVP:

My Prediction

Knicks played horribly in the 2nd half of the raptors game and that's just a disgrace letting them come back from 16 down. I'm expecting another loss here tonight. Cavs win 95-82

 

[Beat]

Good preview. I think the Knicks will win this one.

 

[Knicks Analyst]

I can't fathom Cleveland's mindset thus far in the game (halftime). They don't seem to be playing with mich fire or energy, anything of that nature. James is shooting 3-10 so far and isn't attacking the Knicks down low as much as I had anticipated. Cleveland looks pretty disoriented, they need James or someone else to really step it up in the 2nd half. Cleaveland has not played playoff-caliber basketball thus far in the game. Marbury and Crawford both have done well scoring-wise. And in 12 minutes, I'll give some credit to TT, he has 8 pts he was 3-4 with 2-2 from 3pt range. But that was just early. I think it's clear that the Knicks have set it in cruise control, just playing the season out. Good to see Ariza finally get some minutes, too.

 

[BigBlueFan]

Gah, the Cavs don't even have anyone in double figures yet. Z has 9 points and Gooden, Lebron, and Newble all have 8.

Going to have to try and shut Marbury down, but it's not looking good as of right now.

 

[Mr. J]

I see the Knicks wining this one. There just playing so well. Again, it's impossible to make a prediction on the Knicks because they're just so inconsistent however, based on how there playing now, I think they'll win.

 

[Knicks Analyst]

Just now (3 min or so in 3rd quarter) there was a quick spurt of energey, some urgency in the play of Cleveland. If anyone else here saw that they'll know what I mean, that right there was the kind of energy they should be playing with all game these days. James was simply getting the job done, great work. He's got 10 boards now to go with 15 points, this is what I was talking about when I said that someone needed to step up. Right now, it looks like that someone is James.

 

[Ming637]

Jeez, Cavs caught up, what a suprise.

 

[Knicks Analyst]

Knicks win 95-89. Roller coaster game finishes on a high note for NY. Despite the number of shots LeBron launched, he played an exceptional game of basketball with 27-18-7, really very very good. Crawford was great with 25-4-9, too. Kurt grabbed 14 boards. I was surprised, the Knicks actually came into Gund Arena looking to win. Good game, and I am actually happy we won this game, despite the possible blow to our draft position.

 

[briang8818]

good game by the Knicks. Mo Taylor was just killing us all night.

It was nice we made a game out of it, but I am incredibly frustrated, especially with Miami blowing it against philly

 

[slamnjam]

Maurice Taylor and Jamal Crawford sparked a key fourth-quarter run and the New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-89. Crawford ended with 25 points and Taylor had 16 points for the Knicks, who won for just the second time in 12 outings. Stephon Marbury and Mike Sweetney had 14 points apiece, as they issued a serious blow to the Cavs' playoff seeding.

 

[JWohl]

knicks

the knicks played well.......WAHOO? I dont know if I should be happy.....LBJ was simply fantastic scoring 28 and grabbing 18 board (to quote stephen A. Smith) HOWEVER he took and missed a LOT of shots.

 

[briang8818]

I wasn't really mad at the volume of his shots. Every attempt was needed, but it was the bad pass that went over Ira Newble's head that really did the cavs in.