The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Drummond has monster night THE SCORE
Andre Drummond tied his career high with 33 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, and Cedi Osman scored 25 points in leading the Cavaliers to a 106-103 win over the Knicks on Jan. 15.
Drummond posted the Cavaliers’ first 30-20 game since Carlos Boozer had 32 points and 20 rebounds against Seattle on Jan. 20, 2004. He also had three assists, two blocks and two steals as Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak.
“I can’t speak enough about what Dre did. I thought he was awesome,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He can punish you and when he plays with that determination and that force, there aren’t many people who can stop him one-on-one.”
Julius Randle had 28 points and six assists, rookie Immanuel Quigley scored a season-high 23 points and R.J. Barrett had 20 points for New York, which lost its fifth in a row. The Knicks used a 16-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to go in front, 8480.
Drummond, a 54% career foul shooter, made 13 of 19 free throws. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and could be on the move sooner after Cleveland added center Jarrett Allen in a trade with Brooklyn.
CAVALIERS 106, KNICKS 103
“I can’t speak enough about what Dre did. I thought he was awesome. He can punish you and when he plays with that determination and that force, there aren’t many people who can stop him one-on-one.” – Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff, on Andre Drummond
“If I do get traded, I can’t control that,” said Drum- mond, who leads the NBA in rebounding for the fifth straight season. “I know that I love the guys that are here and I’m having a lot of fun. You have to play hard every night because they go all-out for 48 minutes.”
Bickerstaff admitted that talk of a potential Drummond trade could be distracting to the Cavaliers.
“The optics are obvious, but Dre and I have built a great relationship based on trust,” he said. “Dre knows his worth and you can obviously see what he’s capable of.”
Osman and Drummond each made steals in the final 31 seconds, preventing New York from getting closer than three points at 102-99. Rookie Isaac Okoro sealed the win with two free throws, making it 105101 with 7.3 seconds remaining. “Those turnovers were costly and we need to understand that the intensity in that part of the game is different,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We’ll keep evaluating and finding the best combinations to move forward. Everything is on the table.”
Allen and forward Taurean Prince — acquired from Brooklyn — were inactive because all players in the three-team deal involving James Harden have not taken their physicals.
The Cavaliers remain without three starters in five-time All-Star forward Kevin Love (right calf strain) and guards Collin Sexton (left ankle sprain) and Darius Garland (right shoulder sprain).
Cleveland took its largest lead at 80-68 in the third, but New York immediately answered with 16 straight points, capped by back-toback buckets by Randle.
Drummond posted 20 points and 14 rebounds in the first half.
Long layoff
The Cavaliers’ next two games were postponed by the NBA because the Wizards do not have the minimum eight available players. Cleveland was slated to play in Washington on Sunday and Monday, which was already problematic because of heightened security. “The city of D.C. logistically would have been a nightmare,” Bickerstaff said.