It is no secret that New York and Cleveland are rival sports cities, and going into Monday night's contest, the game was expected to reflect this sentiment. Although both offenses have been efficient this season, the first quarter was scrapy and gritty. The Cavs came out switching everything on defense and clearly emphasized help defense with all defenders floating off their man. Both teams had high energy in the first quarter, highlighted by Mobley and OG helpside blocks on back-to-back plays. The Knicks and Cavs had some great offense rebounding performances early: Josh Hart, Jericho Sims and Jarrett Allen were all aggressive on the offensive glass. Allen also made some great inside passes and set effective smash screens on top of his excellent offensive rebounding performance. LeVert and Merrill were the first two off the bench and Merrill's connection with Mitchell was seen early, as they are both able to benefit off of each other's shooting abilities. Ultimately, Cleveland's high motor forced 7 consecutive three point misses to start the game for the Knicks, fuelling a lead into the second quarter.

Coming out of commercial break, Mobley continued his extremely aggressive offensive approach this season. He attacked inside and made a corner three. Dean Wade was a pest on defense, in a game where he had steals, stops and read the defense well to create open threes on the other end (although he was missing them, 0-5 3PT). But, offensive contributions from Hart and Brunson had the Knicks on a 9-0 run and leading halfway through the second quarter. Darius Garland was able to get to his float game all throughout the first half, and it is evident that his confidence is growing with every game so far this season. After Ty Jerome and Mikal Bridges traded steals-and-scores, the Knicks were winning an alarmingly high turnover battle. Kenny Atkinson once again split up Allen/Garland or Mitchell/Mobley in the first half, but with three and a half minutes to go, he brought out the whole "Core Four" on the floor. The starting group plus LeVert were able to make it a one possession game, but were then plagued by turnovers and an inability to rebound on the defense end. As a result, the Knicks took a 52-45 lead into the break, and an 11-6 advantage on the offensive glass (scarily similar to the 2023 NBA Playoffs).

The Cavs were going to need to play a cleaner game in the second half and a close game like this meant we were likely going to lean on Garland and Mitchell down the stretch. Everyone knows that Donovan grew up in New York, but did you know that his dad is the Director of Player Relations for the New York Mets? Anyway, Mitchell came out of the gate knocking down a corner three, but another Hart offensive rebound already had his rebounding numbers in double digits, and after the ball was worked around, he hit a three point shot. On back-to-back possessions the Cavs were able to force offensive fouls, scoring on the latter, with a Garland to Mobley lob. Unfortunately, Mikal Bridges started to torch Cleveland in the mid-range, and more Cavalier turnovers gave the Knicks a double-digit lead halfway through the third quarter. Afterwards, OG forced an and-one in the paint, and it was clear that he was going to try to hunt size mismatches the whole game. Despite Garland's efforts to match the Knicks offensive production (19 points in first three quarters), the Knicks spacing and ball-movement had them multiple possessions ahead heading into the fourth.

Going into the final quarter, it was time for Cleveland to prove that they are a contender in the Eastern Conference. Only 59 seconds in, a score-stop-score sequence for the Cavs tied the game and forced Tom Thibodeau to take a time-out. With Mobley's improved shooting stroke, Atkinson went to a group of Mitchell, Merrill, LeVert, Niang and Mobley to start the fourth quarter. This collection of players who can make the three proved to be successful going on a 10-2 run out of the break. Josh Hart had his fingerprints on all parts of this game and a sequence including a pair of free throws, a rebound, a steal and an assist evened the game at 84 a piece. Both teams continued to play with pace, leading to made three-point shots from McBride and Garland. A crafty Garland mid-range off the glass, a Mobley block and Allen basket gave the Cavs a 93-89 lead with five minutes to go.

The game continued to be hectic after loose balls were all over the floor with four minutes to go. Darius came up with one, but it was proceeded by a LeVert foul on Hart when trying to claim another 50/50 ball. Once again, Garland came up big, scoring consecutive threes and a floater giving Cleveland a 6 point lead. He also prevented a transition basket with a strip on Brunson but then fouled him after the BLOB, sending him to the line. Then, Garland came up with the play of the game, blocking Brunson's shot attempt in the paint. Of course, it was late free throws from DG that closed out the game.

What a game. Darius Garland masterclass. Cleveland shows they are an elite team, in a contest that was not always pretty, the Cavs came away with the gritty win.

4-0.

Final Score: 110-104 Cavs

Player of the Game: Darius Garland (34 points, 5-8 3PT, 2 steals, 2 blocks)

Junkyard Dog: Evan Mobley (17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks)

Need to See More: Isaac Okoro (0 points, 1 steal, 9 minutes)