LAME OLD STORY
Knicks drilled by Cavs after Jax fails to deal away Rose KP leaves blowout with sprained ankle He’s still here. Derrick Rose shows his frustration during the Knicks’ 119-104 beatdown at the hands of the Cavaliers hours after the trade deadline passed Thu
CLEVELAND — No trade. No mercy.
Knicks president Phil Jackson didn’t do anything at the trade deadline Thursday and the club didn’t do anything on the court. The same-old Knicks responded by getting routed for the fourth straight time by the defendingchampion Cavaliers, 119-104, at Quicken Loans Arena.
Led by a LeBron James tripledouble, the Cavaliers have now swept the season series (4-0) between the teams two straight years and have posted 10 straight triumphs against Jackson’s overmatched club.
Worse, Kristaps Porzingis sprained his right ankle in the second quarter, missed the second half and was in a clunky walking boot after the game, not knowing how long he will be out. Porzingis, bothered by Achilles soreness and stomach woes this season, said his ankle swelled up significantly.
Porzingis said he’ll be examined by doctors Friday.
“I always have these challenges and sicknesses,’’ said Porzingis, who finished with eight points (0for-4 on 3s). “But I accept it as a challenge. Hopefully it’s not too bad.’’
The good news is the Knicks won’t have to face the Cavaliers again this season. That’s also the bad news as their post-All-Star break playoff push got off to a sluggish start as the Knicks now have as many losses as the Sixers, whom they host Saturday.
The Knicks fell a season-worst 12 games under .500 (23-35) and five games out of the East’s eighth seed. A potential No. 8 vs. No. 1 first-round Knicks-Cavaliers meeting is looking like a fantasy.
On the TNT telecast, Charles Barkley slipped in a curse word describing the Knicks. According to Barkley, Spike Lee told him in New Orleans he wouldn’t mind getting tossed out of the Garden like Charles Oakley because “don’t nobody wanna see that s---.’’
The night was punctuated by James soaring to block Courtney Lee’s driving layup attempt off the backboard in the fourth quarter, drawing the loudest roar of the evening from the crowd.
James’ triple-double was emphatic — 18 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony, once rumored as a candidate to join James, shot just 9-of-25 for 20 points. He also had five assists and five rebounds after — as expected — being spared at the trade deadline.
“LeBron in that fourth quarter really picked us apart,’’ Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.
Derrick Rose, who was close to being moved to Minnesota, scored 13 points with four assists on 6of-14 shooting from the field. Lee led the Knicks with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting despite being ill and missing the previous two practices.
The Knicks took an early 20-12 lead behind Lee’s 5-for-5 start, but that quickly evaporated and the Cavaliers surged to a 34-33 lead after one quarter and a 68-51 lead at halftime.
The half was punctuated by James coming from behind to block a Rose driving attempt. ExKnick Iman Shumpert then hit a 3 off a James feed to give the Cavaliers their biggest lead at 17 points.
Rose said defense was the biggest culprit.
“It’s been the entire year, defense, communication and effort of getting back,” he said. “They beat us in transition every way possible.’’