Eastern Conference Preview – Knicks v Cavs

We finally made it. Knicks have been resting for what seems like 2 weeks, although it was only 9 days. The Cavs looked to be on the brink of elimination but recovered from a close out Game 6 at-home-choke-job, by taking a ECF clinching game 7 – on the road in Detroit.

As a Knicks fan, I found myself rooting to play the Cavs. A few reasons for that.

Number 1, and possibly the biggest of them all, is home court. Starting the series in MSG after the Cavs are coming off of their 2nd straight 7-game series while only having a day off. I think that should be a major advantage. Game 7 potentially at MSG is also nice to have, but starting the series with 2 home games for NYK is big. The next reason I wanted to see the Cavs is style of play. The Pistons dominated the Knicks during the regular season and mainly relied on overly aggressive toughness on defense. Essentially fouling on every play and daring the refs to call them. That’s how the Pistons play, that’s what the coach relies on. It’s almost the opposite of the flop happy teams like Philly and OKC/Spurs. Where teams have become soo reliant on flopping and manipulated refs to get these ridiculous fouls, there is a flip side style to that. Which the Pistons love. It’s foul aggressively everyplay, and put the refs is a tough spot to pick and choose when to blow the whistle. I hate either style if I’m being honest, but the aggressive foul happy style usually works in the playoffs when refs are more prone to ‘play-on’ calls.

As we turn to the matchup, the Knicks surely have the deeper team. Aside from Mitchell, Harden is a known playoff choker, and Mobley is a skinny frail bag of bones. I don’t see any reason why the Knicks don’t put up close to 120 points a night in this series. While the Cavs can also score, mainly Mitchell & Harden, their defense is nowhere near what the Pistons put on the floor. And the recent success of the Knicks bum-rushing teams early with 3’s to get ahead, could easily work on this Cavs team. Defensively the Cavs should be no match for the Knicks offense

Last thing to touch on is the obvious time off for the Knicks. The Knicks were on fire! They had went down 2-1 to Atlanta, and ever since have ripped off 7 straight wins. 3 to close ATL and then 4 in a row to sweep those bums in Philly. So while that was a historic franchise run, there is worry about cooling off after being red hot. The one positive to take from this is OG Anunoby. He was arguably their best player in the playoffs until he got hurt. So the rest period of 9 days is a gift for getting him healthy. And they will need the full roster ready to go to run with the Cavs and score. If the Knicks keep their form and stay hot, we could see the in the Finals. They should be able to handle game 1 in their own building with a beaten down tired Cavs team. Game 2 will be pivotal. Then I’m not too worried about stealing 1 in Cleveland. That arena seems much easier to win in then the Pistons.

Let the games begin.

Go New York Go New York Gooooo!