CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It’s not how you start It’s how you finish.
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 and Jarrett Allen 21 as the Cavs outscored the Knicks 71-45 in the second half on their way to a 124-105 victory at Rocket Arena.
Here’s the top Wine & Gold nuggets from Wednesday night.
Magic number – The win combined with Boston’s loss to the Miami Heat increased the Cavs lead to 5 over the Celtics and lowered the magic to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference to 2.
Second half surge – After falling behind by as many as 15 in the second quarter, the Cavs awoke from their slumber and took it to the Knicks after halftime, outscoring the visitors by 26 over the final 24 minutes. “They were just kind of getting what they wanted,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Our closeouts were not up to par. Our physicality off the ball was not up to par.” An 18-8 run to start the third quarter turned the game around for the Cavs. “It really starts with our defensive and intensity focus,” Mitchell said. “I didn't feel like we had it at least for the first quarter. I think second quarter we had it in spurts, and then obviously second half we did what we were supposed to. And not every game is going to be perfect. Not every game you're going to come out and start the right way, but it's just how do you continue to bounce back and respond? And as a collective we were able to do that.”
The King & I – With three minutes to play, Allen swiped the ball away from Karl Anthony-Towns, raced down the floor by himself and when he hit the lane he took two steps, wound up and with his right arm stretched out smashed it home to give the Cavs a 116-97 lead. “Honestly, I wanted to look like LeBron, trying to bring it back,” Allen said. “I looked at the replay, nothing close.” Allen also finished with eight rebounds, a blocked shot and steal in the win.
Heating up – Darius Garland, who had been struggling shooting the ball in recent weeks, shot 8-15 from the floor to finish with 17 points and six assists. “I feel like he's starting to get his groove again,” Atkinson said.
Shut ‘em down – Isaac Okoro scored 11 points, but his biggest contributions continue to come on the defensive end of the floor, especially slowing down OG Anunoby, who had 19 points at halftime. “In the first half, he was hitting every shot he put up, so we had to be more physical with him,” Okoro said. “We were going under everything playing soft and he was just shooting warmup shots. So in the second half we decided to play a little more physical dictate where we wanted him to go and make him shoot tougher shots.” Anunoby scored just four points in the second half. Okoro also pulled down four rebounds, came away with a pair of steals and dove on the floor for a loose ball and created a jump ball. “I feel like he had a lull and we weren't getting him a ton of minutes, and now I feel like he's catching his groove and has played really, really well lately,” Atkinson said.
Honor to be nominated – Allen was among six to be nominated for the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award. “He is one of, if not the [most] selfless human being I've ever met,” Mitchell said of Allen. “You see it on a night to night basis what he does, but he's really just caring about everybody else and be trying to tell him to care about himself sometimes. Get self-care, take a game off, sit, enjoy the weather something, whatever. But he don't do it. He wants to be there for us. So I love this guy, man. I love this guy.” Mitchell was nominated for the Teammate of the Year Award along with 11 others. “The thing that always comes with Donovan is he empowers others,” Atkinson said. “Obviously empowering Evan and getting him more touches and understanding he's got to be a bigger part of this. Darius too. Darius coming off a tough season and Donovan understood that. He's got great awareness where the team is… I can't say enough about his leadership this year.”
Starting 5 – Atkinson started Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Max Strus, and Jarrett Allen.
