Cavaliers once again humiliated by Knicks and NBA officials in 109-97 loss
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Friday night at Rocket Arena the Jarrett Allen, Jaylon Tyson less Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the heavily favored and favorite to win the Eastern Conference Philadelphia 76ers in blowout fashion 119-95.
Saturday night on the second half of a back-to-back they welcomed the New York Knicks (4-4, 1-2 road) to RA.
The Cavs were still without Allen and Tyson as well as Sam Merrill who had been struggling to find his shot anyway. The Cavs once again did what they usually do against the Knicks the last five season, they lost 109-97 with the aid of the three game officials.
The game started off in relatively ugly fashion with the Knicks leading 6-4 at the 9:35 mark of the first quarter. The Cavs tied it 6-6 with 9:06 left on the clock when Peyton Watson scored in the paint and after the Cavs forced a Knicks turnover the Cavs led 8-6 with 8:50 remaining in the quarter. The lead went back and forth for several minutes. The Cavs took a 16-14 lead with 4:53 left in the quarter when Meleek Thomas drained his second consecutive three. After the Knicks had taken a three-point lead Tyrese Proctor tied the game 19-19 with three with 2:38 left on the clock. The Cavs then took a four point lead when Donovan Mitchell was fouled by recently acquired Knick Dalton Knecht. He drained the three and then made the foul shot and the Cavs lead was 23-19 with 2:10 left in the quarter. When the first quarter which was not a thing of beauty ended the Cavs led 27-26. Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 14 first quarter points. Mitchell and Watson paced the Cavs with seven points apiece. The Cavs outshot the Knicks from the field 47% (9 of 19) to 41% (9 of 22) and from three-point range 41% (5 of 12) to 27% (3 of 11) and outrebounded New York 11-8.
Riley Minix who was signed by the Cavs to a two-way contract earlier in the day entered the game to start the second quarter and just 19 seconds into the quarter he drained a three and gave the Cavs a 30-26 lead. The Knicks pulled to within two points at 36-34 with 7:27 left in the quarter when former Cav Jordan Clarkson scored in the paint when he pulled down his rebound from a missed three-point attempt. With just over five minutes left in the first half Proctor learned a hard lesson that when you are playing the New York Knicks you never get a call even if it was blatant by a Knicks player. Proctor was clearly planted and was called for the foul when it was obvious to everyone in the Arena that Proctor was in the right. The call changed the tide of the contest which is the goal by the NBA office when it comes to the Knicks and with 3:23 remaining the Knicks were leading 50-45. The Cavs played like a bad Mid-American Conference team with poor decisions and absolute lack of effort in the final eight minutes of the half and it showed on the scoreboard as the Knicks led 63-53 when the halftime buzzer sounded. It was a 16-point swing in the final eight minutes. Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 20 first half points, Towns had 18. Mitchell led the Cavs with a paltry 11 points at the break. The Cavs and Knicks both shot 44% from the field in the first half, but the Knicks took 13 more shots, making six more than the Cavs. The Knicks also outrebounded the Cavs in the opening half 24-20. The Cavs also turned the ball over eight times resulting in 12 Knicks points.
Neither team could hit the broad side of a barn early in the quarter as there was only four points scored through the first 2:52, they were scored by the Cavs who cut the Knicks lead to six points. With seven minutes left in the third quarter Evan Mobley blocked a Towns layup attempt and in true NBA officials’ fashion it was called goaltending and the Knicks got a basket and took a 12 point lead. With 3:00 remaining in the quarter the Knicks lead grew to 16 points, and the Cavs had no answer how to stop the Knicks offense. The second night of a back-to-back fatigue was showing. With about 1:45 left in the quarter Mitchell was mugged by two Knicks at the top of the three-point arc, no foul was called, he turned the ball over and the Knicks hit a three at the other end to take an 88-69 lead with 1:32 left. At the end of the third quarter the Knicks led by 18 and another route of the Cavs by the Knicks was on. To say the Knicks, have the Cavs number and are in the helpful hands of the NBA office and the officials would be an understatement. The two foul calls that resulted in a ten-point swing in favor of the Knicks late in the second quarter absolutely changed the flow of the game and everyone in the arena knew that it was intentional.
With 9:53 left the Cavs cut the New York lead to 15 points when Mitchell hit a three from the top of the arc. Former Cavs head coach and current Knicks head coach Mike Browns called a timeout. With 7:25 left the Cavs Thomas Bryant picked up his fifth foul for just standing under the basket when OG Anunoby slipped and fell. The Knick then made three pointer and led by 15 once again. Aside from the disgustingly predictable one sided officiating in favor of the Knicks the Cavs once again were dominated in terms of physicality. The Knicks are simply the tougher team mentally and physically. Of course, it is easier to do that when you’re on a team that will get the call in every key situation. With 3:15 left the Cavs cut the Knicks lead to 10 points. The Cavs cut the Knicks lead to eight points with 1:53 left when Watson scored in the paint. The Knicks responded quickly and the lead was back at ten. Mitchell was then fouled but not surprising he only made one of two free throws and the Cavs trailed by nine. Watson was then called for another pathetic foul and of course Brunson the Knicks superstar made one of two giving the Knicks a 10 point lead with just under a minute remaining. The NBA office was firmly in control of the result of the game tonight and there was never a doubt. Congratulations to Adam Silver and the other people in charge of the NBA office for another New York Knicks win. There is nothing else to say.
Cleveland will now have a day off on Sunday and will travel to Charlotte on Monday to take on the Hornets at the Spectrum Center at 7 pm. The Cavs are 82-52 all-time against the Hornets but are only 32-35 in Charlotte. The Cavs have won the last three meetings with the Hornets and were 3-1 last season. Monday’s game will be the first of three with Charlotte this season.
POSTED 11/07/2026 22:44
Lake County Sentinel
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Cleveland Cavaliers Riley Minix scores under the basket in the second quarter on Saturday night in the Cavs 109-97 loss to the New york Knicks at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tim Shirer
