Knicks falter in fourth quarter, lose to Cavaliers, 110-104

The Knicks let a second-half lead slip away and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-104, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Here are the takeaways…

-Things got off to a slow start offensively for both teams with neither side able to settle into a groove thanks to some strong defensive play. New York missed its first seven three-point attempts while Cleveland went 1-for-7 from deep to begin the contest.

-With 2:07 left in the first quarter, Cam Payne finally connected on a three-ball for the team’s first of the night. Karl-Anthony Towns followed with a made three on the Knicks’ following possession which pulled them to within three points in the quarter.

–Jalen Brunson had a quiet first 12 minutes, scoring just two points on 1-for-6 shooting as New York went into the second quarter down 22-18.

-That’s when the offense for the Knicks perked up. They scored 34 points on a total team effort — Brunson, Josh Hart and Miles McBride each had seven while Mikal Bridges added six.

-The defense remained steady, too, holding the Cavs to 23 points (despite a decent 7-for-16 shooting from the floor) and 45 points through two quarters. It wasn’t the prettiest, but New York went into the second half with a seven-point advantage at 52-45.

-Out of the locker room, baskets were hard to come by at first. However, that soon changed for the Knicks who opened up a game-high 13-point lead on Cleveland with 4:29 left in the quarter thanks to OG Anunoby‘s three-pointer.

-From that point on, though, the Cavaliers went on a 13-2 run to trim their deficit to just two points. In that time, New York went 1-for-6 from the field. Through three quarters, the Knicks’ lead shrank to 78-74.

-That lead vanished early in the fourth quarter after Georges Niang hit a triple to put Cleveland on top 81-80 — its first lead since it led 31-29 with 8:17 remaining in the second.

-While the Cavs made their first four shots of the quarter (two of them threes), New York began the frame just 1-for-4 (two missed threes). Free throws by Hart and a made bucket by McBride tied the game at 84-84 before the Knicks retook the lead on McBride’s three-point shot.

-The lead was short-lived though, as Darius Garland answered with a triple of his own, the first of three deep shots he made in the final quarter. He finished with a game-high 34 points.

-Cleveland’s lead reached eight points with 3:51 remaining, but New York continued to fight and cut it to three with just under two minutes left. In the end, it wasn’t enough and the Knicks dropped their second game of the young season.

-All five starters finished with double-digit points while Towns and Hart each had a double-double, although Hart added five turnovers to his ledger.

Game MVP: Darius Garland

Garland finished with 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting (5-for-8 from three) in 33 minutes and made some clutch three-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Cavs needed him the most.

Highlights

What’s next

The Knicks will hit the road for a four-game road trip starting Wednesday night with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with the Miami Heat.