The Knicks have opened the playoffs in dominant fashion. After a 102-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game four of their best of seven game first round series, the Knicks now have a 3-1 series lead, with the chance to close out the series in Game five. Point guard Jalen Brunson led the way again for the Knicks with a game high 29 points. The much maligned fourth year forward RJ Barrett had his second strong game in a row with 26 points. Said Barrett of the home team crowd’s energy, “l think it’s amazing, it helps. I think it’s been helping a lot. Especially when we were trying to go on some runs, it helps us even more.”
Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau sat the team’s leading scorer, Julius Randle, for the entire fourth quarter as he has struggled in this series. He shot 3-10 from the field and has shot just 21-65 from the field in the series. “Look, Julius is our horse,” said Thibodeau of the benching. “He’s giving us everything he has.” Randle missed the last 5 regular season games as he rolled his left ankle. He did have a solid game 1 but has struggled since. “A lot of guys probably wouldn’t even be playing,” concluded Thibodeau.
Cleveland star guard Donovan Mitchell had just 11 points and missed 13 of his 18 shots. His backcourt mate Darius Garland finished with a team high 23 points and 10 assists. The Knicks now have Cleveland on the brink of elimination as they are another win away from reaching the second round of the playoffs for just the second time since 2001. Game 5 took place in Cleveland on Wednesday night with game 6 taking place Friday night at MSG if necessary.
Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article.
