KEVIN AND HELL
KNOX HEROICS CAN’T SAVE KNICKS FROM LOSS TO AWFUL CAVS
CLEVELAND — David Fizdale has identified one pure trait of his 2018-19 Knicks. They’re never out of a game.
There’s also another undeniable trait Knicks president Steve Mills, general manager Scott Perry and the team’s first-year coach all but promised: This team will deliver lots of losses — to the very good and the very bad.
All the forces came together in a Wednesday thriller at Quicken Loans Arena. Rookie lottery pick Kevin Knox got the start and made a dazzling finish. It looked like he would become the heroic closer, spearheading one last final rally on a night stuffed with them.
Emmanuel Mudiay picked up a loose ball, ignited a fast break and fed Knox, who jammed it home with the right hand, giving the Knicks a one-point lead with 32.5 seconds left. Moments before, Knox had drilled a 3-pointer.
But the Knicks couldn’t hold onto that slim advantage in another late collapse that saw the game end on an 8-0 Cavaliers run en route to a 113-106 Cleveland victory.
Rodney Hood scored the game-winning basket in the lane with 23 seconds left. Mudiay followed by blowing a floater then had to throw away an inbounds pass, with the five-second count running out and no timeout at his disposal, as the Knicks’ rally from 22 points down was for naught.
The 8-21 Knicks have lost five straight and continue the road trip in Charlotte on Friday and Indiana on Sunday.
Cleveland struck for 39 first-quarter points, looking like LeBron James was still on the squad, as the Knicks gave the Cavaliers all types of open looks.
“The game was lost in the first quarter,’’ Fizdale said. “We can’t keep spotting teams 40-point quarters and think we’re going to dig out of that. But I was proud of the way we crawled back.”
The Cavaliers entered the night at 6-21 and were without their top performer in center Tristan Thompson after already being beset by Kevin Love’s toe surgery.
“We came out sluggish,’’ said Knox, who finished with an impressive 19 points. “We gave up too many easy points. We weren’t guarding the ball at all. We fixed it in the third quarter but it was too late. The first quarter messed us the whole game.”
Fizdale made another starting lineup change, the obvious swap of Knox for Mario Hezonja. Knox shot well from deep and finished 7-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-6 on 3s).
The Cavs biggest lead, at 53-31, was wiped out in a 10:03 span, capped when Noah Vonleh scored inside, tying the score at 67 with 8:11 left in the third.
Down one with 23 seconds left, the Knicks’ strategy was to shoot quickly instead of burning the clock to the final ticks and foul after a miss. Mudiay had a good look at a floater but was off target.
“Mud got right where he wanted it, was a make-ormiss play,’’ Fizdale said. “If we miss, we’re able to foul.”
Cedri Osman got the rebound of Mudiay’s miss with 15 seconds left, hit both free throws, and Mudiay couldn’t find an open man on the ensuing inbounds — a desperation pass before a violation was stolen by Larry Nance Jr.
“I had to get rid of it,’’ Mudiay said.