At 8:00 on March 4, Beijing time, the 2023-24 NBA regular season continued, and a key battle in the East began, with the New York Knicks challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers away. The Cavaliers won their 39th game of the season against the Pistons last time out on the road and currently sit in second place in the East with a 39-20 record. The Knicks have been plagued by injuries recently, with Randle and Anunoby sidelined for long periods of time. After losing to the Pelicans and Warriors in a row, they suffered two consecutive home losses, and currently has a record of 35 wins and 25 losses, ranking fourth in the East.
Randle and Anunoby continued to be sidelined in this game, while Brunson also went off injured just 47 seconds into the first quarter. Losing the main player in a row, the other Knicks players stepped up well. DiVincenzo scored 12 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 5-of-10 shooting in the first quarter, leading the team to gradually take the lead; In the first quarter, the Knicks made a strong effort inside and outside, hitting 6 3-pointers, and the team scored 28 points; Mitchell was absent in this game, and the Cavaliers, who lost their backbone, were sluggish in the first quarter, only hitting 2 3-pointers from the outside, playing iron crazily, and the 9-point gap was opened in the first quarter;
The situation in the second quarter suddenly changed, and the knights found their touch in this section and began to gradually narrow the difference. The Cavaliers were full of firepower from the outside in this quarter, hitting 7 3-pointers, while the Knicks lost all 4 shots, and the outside line alone was 21 points short! The Knicks were not allowed to go on the outside and could only dig inside again and again to create opportunities, but fortunately, the shooting percentage was not low, and they only missed 3 shots under the basket. At halftime, the two teams were tied at 51-53, and the Knicks only trailed by two points into the second half;
Yibian fought again, and it was the Knicks' turn to exert their strength in this section, and the Cavaliers' hand declined. In this quarter, the Knicks hit 5 3-pointers from the outside, and the Cavaliers shot wildly from the outside, but only 3 of 14 shots, and the shooting rate was less than 3 percent! The Knicks also suffered an advantage in the interior competition, conceding a total of 2 shots, scoring 36 points in a single quarter, and opening up an 11-point gap in one fell swoop. At the end of the third quarter, the total score came to 87-78, and the Knicks entered the final quarter with a 9-point advantage;
In the final quarter, the two teams continued to play iron as soon as they came up, and Hart assisted Burks to make a layup, and the point difference came to double digits! After that, Garland and Burks exchanged 3-pointers, Merrill and Bogdanovic also hit 3-pointers, and the Cavaliers called a timeout; After the timeout, Merrill hit another 3-pointer, and the difference came to 5 points! At the critical moment, McBride also hit a 3-pointer, Garland assisted Allen to get a dunk in the air, and the two sides went back and forth, and the difference remained around 6 points; McBride hit a key 3-pointer to stretch the gap to 9 points, and in the last 23 seconds, he basically killed the game, and the final score was fixed at 107-98 to beat the Cavaliers.
Stats: Hart performed well in this game, scoring 13 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks with a triple-double, and it was also the third triple-double in his career, all of which appeared this season. The other 19 rebounds also tied the career single-game rebounding record; DiVincenzo 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, Achiuwa 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks, Hartenstein 8 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Bogdanovic 20 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, McBride 16 points, 1 rebound and 5 assists, Burks 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist;
On the Cavaliers' side, Merrill had 21 points, 3 points and 2 boards, Mobley Jr. had 13 points, 13 boards, 6 assists and 1 block, Okoro had 17 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, Allen had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and Garland had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. A new season of sports