Jalen Brunson scored 21 points, RJ Barrett snapped a slump with 19, and the New York Knicks held the Cleveland Cavaliers to the lowest point total in the NBA this season, leading 2-1 in the playoff series. first-round pick with a 99-79 victory on Friday night.
The Knicks rebounded emphatically from a Game 2 loss and advanced halfway to their first series victory since 2013. They led by 27 points in the fourth quarter, when a sold-out crowd of 19,812 at Madison Square Garden it was so loud that there was little opportunity to hear much of what the PA announcer was saying, especially when the seldom-used veteran Derrick Rose checked into the game to a standing ovation.
Josh Hart added 13 points for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who host Game 4 on Sunday. They became the first team to allow fewer than 80 points during the regular season or postseason.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points for the Cavs, who never gave themselves a chance with their most inept offensive performance of the season. He hadn’t held below 80 points all season, with his worst effort coming in at 81 points, also on the Knicks on Dec. 4.
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Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks celebrates after scoring against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first round playoff series on Friday, April 21, 2023, in New York. The Knicks won 99-79. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Darius Garland, who scored 32 points in Game 2, managed just 10 on 4-of-21 shooting. Caris LeVert, moving into the starting lineup after scoring 24 in that 107-90 win, missed all six shots in the first half before being late to score 17 points.
Barrett shot just 6-for-25 in the first two games, but his shot was falling and he drove aggressively to the basket to get going. Also, some of the Cavs’ 21 turnovers sent Barrett and the Knicks to easy transition baskets.
It was only the second time the playoffs had come to Madison Square Garden in the last 10 years and the fans loved it, a game that was more like something played by the beloved Knicks of the 1990s, who sent the Garden rocking. deep into many springs with its robust brand. of basketball
The bodies fell to the ground or collided with each other and, from time to time, the ball entered the basket.
Jalen Brunson (11) of the New York Knicks outplays Cedi Osman of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first round playoff series on Friday, April 21, 2023 in New York . (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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The Cavs had 13 baskets and 12 turnovers at halftime, when the Knicks’ 4-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc looked practically good compared to the Cavs’ 2-of-19 effort.
The teams combined to miss 20 of 23 3-pointers in a first quarter that ended tied at 17, with Garland (0-of-8) and Julius Randle (0-of-5) unable to score from either side.
The Knicks had six straight points in the second to open up a 38-27 lead when Brunson stole the ball from Mitchell and dunked it, then got the last five of the half on Immanuel Quickley’s 3-pointer and another Mitchell dunk. turnover, this one by Barrett, to make it 45-32.
The offenses started in the third quarter, with both teams shooting over 50% and LeVert scoring 11 points. The Cavs got within single digits before the Knicks closed the period on an 8-0 run to take a 72-55 lead.
It was a tough home playoff opener for Mitchell, who was born in Elmsford, New York, not far from where the Knicks practice, and thought he might be a Knick last summer before Utah traded him to Cleveland.
He said he cut off communication with some friends who were Knicks fans and left some group chats so there would be no distractions. Usually warmly greeted in the arena, fans even turned to the All-Star guard, loudly chanting «airball! airball!» when he was good on a 3-pointer in the second quarter.
But after dishing out a career-high 13 assists in Game 2, the Cavs needed him to keep shooting Friday without anyone else hitting. It wasn’t much, either, going 2-for-8 from behind the arc, where Cleveland finished 7-for-33 (21%).
Obi Toppin #1 and Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks high five during Round One of Game Three of the 2023 NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 21, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in the city from New York, New York. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Cavaliers: Garland left the game for a while in the fourth quarter after spraining his ankle when he stepped on a photographer behind the basket. … The Cavs matched their worst first half in a playoff game, also scoring 32 in an 81-76 loss to the Knicks in Game 3 of the 1996 playoffs. … Isaac Okoro was benched for LeVert after shooting 1-for-7 in the two games in Cleveland.
Knicks: Randle and Quickley each scored 11 points. … Big substitute Jericho Sims was out with a sore right shoulder. He has not played in the series.