Knicks Hold Off Cavs, Take Game 1 101-97

It had been 17 days since Julius Randle last played in a game for the New York Knicks this season. After nursing an ankle injury down the stretch, Randle returned to contribute 19 points, while Jalen Brunson — also back to full strength after a hand injury, dropped down 27 points, and the Knicks held off a late Cleveland charge 101-97.

New York leads the best-of-seven 1-0.

The Knicks had led virtually all night, enjoying a 10-point lead (84-74) as late as 7:08 to go in the regulation, before Cleveland stormed back, and flipped that score into a Cavaliers’ one-point lead with 2:12 to go on Jarrett Allen’s tip in shot.

Give credit to the Knicks, they battled back. Josh Harris drained a three, and Brunson hit an 18-foot jumper to put the Knicks back up by four points, 97-93 with 1:15 to go. Brunson would hit one more shot, an eight-footer to give New York a 99-95 lead.

Allen would respond for Cleveland with a bucket of his own to cut the Knicks lead down to two points with 31.1 seconds to go.

Finally Quentin Grimes nailed a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds to go to ice it for New York after a personal foul on Darius Garland.

Donovan Mitchell also missed a big three-pointer for Cleveland as time expired.

New York and Cleveland duke it out again in Game 2 in Ohio on Tuesday.

Comments

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now. The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia. Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action. On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI. Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.

Is Aaron Glenn in Danger of Getting Fired?

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio there is a "chance" that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn could be fired at seasons end. While Florio doesn't site any sources, the rumor has caught fire the last two days. The question is would it make sense? Let's examine this for a second? Why it Makes Sense: Glenn has not been great in his first year as Head Coach of this team. The talent has taken a major step backwards, granted two of those talented players were traded away in Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas. The decision he and GM Darren Mougey made to give Justin Fields a two year deal proved to be a horrible mistake, and Glenn stuck with Fields for far too long before pulling the plug following the Jets loss to the Patriots on a Thursday night in mid November. Glenn gave now former Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks too much power to run the defense, and the players couldn't stand Wilks. Reports indicated this week af...

COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Search This Blog