Knicks vs. Cavaliers score, takeaways: New York rolls to 99-79 victory over Cleveland to take 2-1 series lead

Game 4 will be Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden

The New York Knicks cruised to a 99-79 blowout win against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night, and now hold a 2-1 series lead. It was a clunky first half from both teams, but the Knicks managed to find their footing on offense and applied pressure to the Cavaliers on defense which forced them to commit turnovers.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals. RJ Barrett also broke out of a 3-point shooting slump, going 3 of 6 from deep and finishing the night with 19 points. Barrett's perimeter defense on the other end also helped contain Cleveland's backcourt, limiting Donovan Mitchell to 22 points, while Darius Garland struggled again with a 4-for-21 night on 10 points.

While some of this blowout loss was because of New York's defense, a big portion of it was Cleveland just clanking a lot of wide open shots. The team shot poorly from just about everywhere on the floor, and could never find any sort of consistency. Luckily, with the quick turnaround of Game 4 being Sunday afternoon, the Cavaliers will be able to put this game behind them and hope to bounce back and tie up this series before heading back to Cleveland.

Here are three takeaways from the Knicks' win.

1. Jalen Brunson, a breath of fresh air for the Knicks

People have been singing Brunson's praises all season long, and for some of us we've been praising him before he put on a Knicks uniform -- cough, cough -- me. But despite all the attention he's been getting, you still can't help but be in awe of his game. He had 21 points against the Cavaliers on an efficient 10 of 18 from the field, and all of those buckets came on 2-pointers. He has an underrated midrange game, and although he's an undersized guard, his strength and body control allow him to finish through contact. 

However, he didn't see a lot of resistance against the Cavaliers. It didn't matter who was guarding him, it usually resulted in a simple dribble to the middle of the floor and a pull-up jumper. After totaling at least 20 points for the third-straight games in the playoffs, Brunson becomes the first Knicks player to score 20+ points in three-consecutive postseason games since ... Derek Harper in the 1994 NBA Finals.

Just let that stat sit with you for a moment. If that doesn't explain the impact of Brunson on this team I don't know what does. The Knicks have been cycling through point guards for years and have never found a consistent answer at that position. But Brunson has shown over the course of this season and in the playoffs that he should have control over that position for years to come.

2. A historic loss for the Cavaliers

Here's a crazy stat to put Cleveland's loss into perspective: the Cavaliers were the first team this season to be held to under 80 points in a game. Not only that, but this was Cleveland's first 20-point loss all season long. Those two statements are worth raising your eyebrows, and while yes, the Knicks played some tough defense a lot of it was also just poor offense from the Cavs. The team went 31 of 80 from the field and 7 of 33 from deep. New York played solid perimeter defense, and made life difficult at the rim for guys like Mitchell and Garland, but the Cavs also generated a lot of wide-open looks that just weren't falling. 

The shooting was bad, and so too were the turnovers. Mitchell alone accounted for six of Cleveland's 20. It's an uncharacteristic number for a team that ranked sixth in the league during the regular season in turnovers. Some of them were unforced errors, but some were also caused by New York's defense. The Knicks were glued to guys out on the perimeter make passing windows incredibly tight, and when guys like Garland and Mitchell did attack the rim, you had Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle looming to force them to second-guess a shot which resulted in a travel or bad pass. 

The turnovers the Knicks forced then ignited the team's transition offense, where they scored 28 points off of Cleveland's turnovers. Combine that with the electric energy inside Madison Square Garden, which Brunson praised after the game, and the Knicks eventually blew the game open in the second half.

3. Quick turnaround for Game 4

Luckily for the Cavaliers, they can soon forget about the atrocity that was that Game 3 shooting night as they'll have their chance to tie the series up Sunday afternoon. Cleveland has managed to bounce back once in this series and respond with a win, so they're certainly capable of doing it again. It's also difficult to imagine that this team would shoot the ball this poorly for the second-straight game, so they have the law of averages working on their side. That aside, Cleveland has to figure out how to get Garland going early. He was aggressive in Game 2 and it resulted in a 32-point night for the guard, and while he got plenty of shots up tonight, he failed to connect on most of them. He has to set the tone for Cleveland in Game 4 because we know that Mitchell will get his points, so getting Garland going should be the main priority.

For the Knicks, aside from the fact that they now hold a 2-1 series lead, they should also be happy with the fact that they managed to pull out a win on a night where Julius Randle went 3 of 15 from the field. However, knowing that the Cavaliers will be hungry to bounce back from this loss, the Knicks are going to need Randle to find his scoring touch in Game 4 if they want to extend their series lead.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:45 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Jalen Brunson putting the finishing touches on this win

Brunson has been a force in this game, and that last bucket may have the Cavaliers wave the white flag. He's had no difficulty getting to his spots, and he's racked up 32 points on 55.6% from the field.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:39 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

It's a 20-point lead, and it looks over

An emphatic lob dunk from Obi Toppin and the Knicks have opened up a 21-point lead. There's seven minutes left, but the Cavs have shown little to suggest they can get back in this game.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:37 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Garland back in the game

Looks like the little ankle tweak Garland had a couple minutes ago is okay, because after coming out immediately following the play he's back in and proceeded to drain a triple. He changed his shoes, so maybe the extra support in these shoes will be enough for him.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:32 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Cavaliers driving the struggle bus

It's been a real rough night for Cleveland. They've only racked up 59 points and there's nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. For context, the Denver Nuggets who are taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves right now, have 55 points and it's not even halftime yet of that game. This has been a poor showing by the Cavaliers.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:31 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Darius Garland tweaked his ankle on last possession

On a fast break, after Darius Garland tried to finish off a fastbreak layup, he landed awkwardly on a cameraperson sitting courtside and immediately came out of the game. Hopefully it's nothing serious. 

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:25 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Knicks up 17 points heading into fourth quarter

New York ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run and now they find themselves with a comfortable lead with 12 minutes to play. The Cavaliers have struggled heavily to find any sort of consistency tonight, and the Knicks started to take advantage of that in the third quarter.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:23 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Knicks have largest lead of the game

With a Jalen Brunson midrange pull up, the Knicks have a 16-point lead, the largest of the game. They've been in control for most of this game and Brunson has helped lead the charge.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:07 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Turnovers continue to pile up for the Cavs

Cleveland is up to 14 turnovers, and credit New York's defense on forcing that last one. Darius Garland attacked the basket, but with Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle looming he tried to dump off the pass but he travelled in the process.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 10:02 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Back-to-back triples from LeVert

The Knicks were showing a double team on Donavan Mitchell, he finds Caris LeVert and he drains the triple, his second-straight 3-pointer. They still have an uphill battle to get back in this, but that was a good possession from Cleveland's offense.

[Apr 21, 2023 at 9:58 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Garland with the first points of the second half

The Cavaliers need Darius Garland to get going. He had 32 points in Game 2, and tonight he's only at 5 points. That's not going to do it if the Cavs want to win this game. He's got the first bucket for Cavaliers in the second half off a floater, so hopefully that's a sign that he'll get going here in the third quarter.