Are there any silver linings to take away from the Cleveland Cavaliers' G1 loss to the Knicks?

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]That's Whitney.

[00:00:00]>> Welcome back to the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. Soccer fans, get ready.

[00:00:04]Professional soccer kicks off next week in Lraine County. The Lraine County Leviathan's home opener is on Monday, May 25th at Forefront Field in Avon.

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[00:00:23]Mike, back to you. They got some swaggy gear, too. You saw the crushers hat on the table. We got the Leviathan hats right next to it.

[00:00:30]and has his Leviathan scarf he's putting on. So, make sure you guys check all that out. We're giving away tickets on Friday.

[00:00:36]>> He keeping that.

[00:00:37]>> Yeah.

[00:00:37]>> Oh, yeah. Once the once [laughter] the giveaway is done and we don't have to display the prop.

[00:00:41]>> He keeping that. It >> it is all >> I mean I I would like to keep one too if we can at some point.

[00:00:45]>> When it's done, we will disperse the merch cuz these are some cool hats. Uh we appreciate Lorraine County for sending them in. Speaking of things that we have to discuss, we have ripped the Cavaliers appropriately so in two different segments so far in today's show. [clears throat] We started the first hour >> with the blame game. We started the second hour with can they mentally recover? But it wasn't all bad yesterday.

[00:01:05]>> The second and third quarter in the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cavs had built a 22-point lead. After the first quarter till the collapse, they had outscored the Knicks by 28 points.

[00:01:13]>> Dustin, you mentioned it earlier. You talked about the silver linings. None of us think the series is over yet. What is the silver linings or what are the silver linings that you wish Cavs fans watching our show right now can take away store in their back pocket until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night to give them some faith that there's still a chance the Cavs can pull this one off?

[00:01:37]>> Well, to me what what I take away is I I look at last night and say, "Okay, what's more likely to be replicated? the Cavs playing a game where they get up 20 points and blow a team out like they did in game seven, like they've done in multiple games in these playoffs, like they've won every game but one in these playoffs. they've won on the road in these playoffs or them to be up 22 points and have a team have an all-time great historic comeback where they make every shot like these are insane shots, contested shots, three-pointers after three-pointer, Brunson after Brunson after Brunson, like all these things.

[00:02:17]What's more likely to happen? I would say that the Cavs win another game by 20 points.

[00:02:21]>> And I think they proved to us that they can do that in Madison Square Garden.

[00:02:25]And those guys went home last night.

[00:02:27]They're bummed. They're disappointed.

[00:02:28]They blew it. But you know what? They get to play tomorrow night, guys. This ain't football. You don't have to wait seven days before you play another game.

[00:02:34]You strap it up tomorrow night and and you see what happens. I think we'll find out very quickly tomorrow night uh what this team's made of. And I I said this to uh my buddy last night. I'm like, isn't it amazing how when this team plays hard with effort and they're physical, the results that come and they did that for the majority of the game until late when when it was again people were making fun of Kenny Atinson for saying they got a little unlucky last night, the Cavs.

[00:03:03]Yeah, they did get a little unlucky at at times. All we needed was to make one free throw.

[00:03:08]>> Yeah.

[00:03:09]>> You know, and we win the game. I mean, if that bucket by Sam MERRILL GOES DOWN, IT'S BANG. PUTS IT IN and the game's over. It's done. And we win. We're 1.0.

[00:03:20]Look, guys, if it's 1-1, we come back to Cleveland. We're not talking about this game.

[00:03:24]>> Listen, it's over.

[00:03:24]>> I believe energy is transferable. And Dustin just got me hyped.

[00:03:28]>> Let's go.

[00:03:29]>> He just got me hyped. I'm going to go ahead and say right now, the Cavs going to win game two for everything Dustin just said. And I think fans need to think about this. We talked about this earlier. The Cavs found themselves down 11 early on the road against a team that was well rested. The whole rest versus rust conversation. They found a way to persevere, climb back into that game, and then dominate that game for what I like to call the dinner portion, the meat and potatoes portion of it. Right.

[00:03:53]They dominated all through that point.

[00:03:56]The thing that I like the most, they were able to match New York's physicality. And if you notice when calls didn't go their way, we didn't see the Cavaliers players running to the roughs and complaining like we had seen in the Detroit series and the Toronto series. And so to me, this is a team that has shown in their 15 playoff games, this playoff run that they are growing and that they're rolling with the punches and they're able to adapt to the situation in real time. And to your point, it's not like the Cavaliers had a 20some point lead by luck. They had a 20some point lead because they were doing all the little things the right way. And all you got to do is just be able to sustain that and close out the game. So, I'm going to tell you right here, right now, cuz I'm not on panel.

[00:04:38]Uh tomorrow, the Cavs will win game two.

[00:04:41]>> Mhm. Yeah, I'm with you.

[00:04:42]>> The Cavs built a massive lead by playing solid offense and great defense. And part of the reason they were able to play so well defensively was the Knicks had either Josh Hart or Mitchell Robinson in for the majority of that stretch. And when one of those two were in, the Cavs did what they did with Assart Thompson. They had Moier Allen guard, the guy who's not a three-point shooter, get in the paint and muck up everything else. That's why Brunson wasn't as effective early. The Cavs were daring the Knicks to shoot threes. And the Knicks could not buy a three for the first 40 minutes of last night's game.

[00:05:16]And it worked to perfection. When the Knicks went on their run and in overtime, do you notice who was in the game as their fifth player? It's Landrew Shamid, not Josh Hart, not Mitchell Robinson, not somebody that we made graphics for in preparation for this because Landrew Sham in my wildest dreams would not be in the Knicks closing lineup. And that's a tactical adjustment that the Knicks made that the Cavs were not ready for last night.

[00:05:41]>> And he used to go to Vans Square.

[00:05:42]>> What' he say?

[00:05:43]>> Shammit. He has a rough hairline.

[00:05:45]>> His Have you ever heard of Shamut face?

[00:05:47]No, I'm not.

[00:05:49]>> I'll explain to you off air because I'm not sure I could say it.

[00:05:52]>> You messed up the joke because that was funny as [laughter] you really just went over my over my head. I'm sorry.

[00:05:58]>> It's okay. I forgive you.

[00:05:59]>> It was a nice tactical adjustment by the Knicks.

[00:06:01]>> An adjustment the Cavs didn't make down that same stretch was they didn't switch. They didn't or they they switched everything. They didn't fight to not switch. They didn't hedge. They didn't blitz enough. They soft doubled the Brunson pick and rolls down the stretch and they got killed for it. The silver lining is it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand some of the adjustments that are right in front of you. If I can see it and I think I know ball but I don't know ball like those guys.

[00:06:30]>> You know ball you know ball >> not like some of those trust me there there as G says there's levels to it. If I can see it, they are well aware of it.

[00:06:38]Now, in the moment, why they can't adapt in real time beyond me. But you got now 48 hours to go back, look at the film, see what worked, see what didn't. Make a game plan against the Knicks lineup that will feature five shooters. I don't think we're going to see much Josh Hart or Mitchell Robinson down the stretch if the Cavs are going to continue to play defense like that or how they did in game one. Now, what's their adjustment to this shammit lineup or whether it's Clarkson, Miles, uh Deuce McBride, you have that ability. And also, James Harden shot incredibly poor from the floor despite having some good looks.

[00:07:15]Max Struce had one three. That was it.

[00:07:18]Outside of Donovan, nobody really played a good offensive game for Cleveland. And despite that, they were still up by 22 in the fourth quarter. You can pick and choose. And once again, I know we're trying to squint to find the silver linings in a demoralizing defeat, but they did a lot of good for a 30-minute stretch yesterday that was completely erased by the extreme bad in the final 13 minutes.

[00:07:40]>> You know what else I thought about?

[00:07:42]>> What's that?

[00:07:42]>> We got 10 points from Dean Wade and blew it. You can't blow a Dean Wade game.

[00:07:46]>> Yeah, but you you you also [laughter] again you guys want to talk silver linings.

[00:07:50]>> Yeah.

[00:07:51]>> Well, guess who's coming to the game too with confidence?

[00:07:53]>> Dean White.

[00:07:53]>> Dean White.

[00:07:54]>> Yes, he is.

[00:07:54]>> Dean White.

[00:07:55]>> Yes, he is. 10 points in the garden.

[00:07:57]>> And historically, >> what does he what does he maybe the first four point play of his career?

[00:08:01]>> Yeah.

[00:08:02]>> And uh they said on the broadcast historically James Harden has played well >> against the New York Knicks. Yeah. And at MSG. So I think he had a 61 point game there at one point in his career.

[00:08:12]So I expect him to be better at least from a scoring standpoint. Mike, when it comes to the turnovers though, I think all of us, whether it's us three or any other, you know, version of a panel that's been on here, we keep talking about the turnovers. Is it unrealistic at this point to think that the Cavaliers will just stop turning the damn ball over carelessly the way that they have >> stop? Yes. Limit is very possible. And I think one thing they did yesterday, another adjustment we can talk about is when the Knicks started to make their run and even a little before that when in the first half at the end of the first half when the Knicks went on that 70 run and then the Cavs came back and they had the back-to-back steals on the pick and roll, the Knicks were setting or the Cavs were setting their screens so high up that the half court line was basically another defender. Harden had no room to retreat. Donovan got called for the back court. They were starting so far up to try and get Donovan and James going downhill, but the Knicks were blitzing that screen and forcing the ball handler to pick it up and Harden had the one jump pass where he tried to throw it. Looked like Brunson slapped his arm. They didn't call a foul, whatever, got the easy lay. They had the other pass where Harden >> threw it from the right side to the left side of the court to Jared Allen when Mitchell Robinson got a hand in, picked it off, went coast to coast. Those are avoidable turnovers, right? Some of them happen in the natural flow of play. Guy makes a great defensive play. like somewhere going to happen. But it's the kind of I'm going to use the word lazy.

[00:09:32]I'm not sure if it's the right word.

[00:09:34]Maybe there's a better word. Some of the lazy passes, especially crosscourt where you just kind of throw it and hope for the best.

[00:09:42]Those you can eliminate. And I think in game two, game three, game four, if it gets past that, you're not going to be able to. The Knicks aren't going to shoot that bad from three again either.

[00:09:51]So you you know they're going to score more points. You can't give them the easy fast break [clears throat] points that come off those laxidasical turnovers. Harden had a couple. Mitchell had a couple. Strus in overtime got picked from behind. Like those things can't happen in those situations. It could be fixed. Not totally corrected, but it can't be fixed. It can be repaired. How about that?

[00:10:12]>> I like that. I like that.

[00:10:14]>> Makes sense.

[00:10:15]>> Yeah.

[00:10:16]>> Yeah.

[00:10:17]>> I'm Listen, I'm all about it. We're going to win game two.

[00:10:19]>> Yeah.

[00:10:20]>> Game two, 8 p.m.

[00:10:21]>> We We said it. We gonna win game two, Mike. He's not that confident.

[00:10:25]>> I'm not as confident as you guys, but I love the way they responded in game seven against Detroit after what happened in game six.

[00:10:31]>> I've just watched a lot of basketball, guys, as have you guys growing up. And and we know and I'm just telling myself like, hey, I'm recalling how I felt in the Detroit series. Like I was at game two. I got on the bus and rode back with all the Cass fans who were disappointed to Cleveland 3 hours after the game. And we Yeah. We're all like looking around like we're down 02. seems like it's over and then next thing you know two two.

[00:10:54]>> It goes one of two It goes one of two ways.

[00:10:56]>> You either after a loss like that in particular.

[00:10:59]>> It's either a rallying cry >> and you say but we know we're the better team. Like screw that. That's not how we want to go out or it's a gut punch, a liver shot that it's a standing 10 a standing 10 count where you get up but you really aren't up and then you go back to the next round >> like Abdullah hit you.

[00:11:17]>> I promise you I promise you one thing.

[00:11:18]If the Cavs get If the Cavs gets up 20 points again in game two, they're not losing.