Cavs given wake-up call in Game 1 loss to Knicks
CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have been given their wakeup call. And there’s no time to hit the snooze button.
The Cavs were treated to a rude awakening to playoff basketball in a 101-97 Game 1 loss to the New York Knicks Saturday night.
To the atmosphere. To the pressure. And, most importantly, to the physicality. And, quickly, it is perhaps the most important adjustment the Cavs need to make heading into Game 2 Tuesday night.
All season, the Cavs have prided themselves on their toughness and grit. But Saturday night the Knicks out-battled, out-fought and out-muscled the Cavs in many of the game’s defining moments.
“This is a wakeup call and a learning lesson for our guys,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It’s one of the things we talk about. You can’t explain or describe what a playoff game is like. You have to go through a playoff game and understand the physicality of it, understand what you can and can’t get away with.”
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That lesson on physicality took the form of the Cavs’ issues corralling rebounds on the defensive end. The Knicks finished Game 1 with 17 offensive rebounds, nearly twice the Cavs’ per-game average allowed this season (9.8). That included two key offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that led to Knicks baskets and another in the final seconds that turned a potential Cavs possession while down two points into a four-point Knicks lead that effectively ended the game.
The Cavs offense struggled, especially from 3-point range. But more than anything, it was their inability to handle the Knicks’ physicality that turned the tide of Game 1.
“We have to be more physical. It’s that simple,” Bickerstaff said. “In the second half they got back almost half their misses. You give yourself a chance in the fourth quarter, you continue to give up offensive rebounds and give them second chances, third chances, you’re going to have a hard time beating them.”