Same script for Cavs as season ends in Game 5 loss to the Knicks: Ashley Bastock

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It was the identical script for the Cavs on Wednesday evening, resulting in an sadly acquainted ending.

The Cavs fell to the Knicks 106-95 in Recreation 5 of their first-round collection. Cleveland’s season is over after practically each confounding factor that plagued them this collection continued within the last matchup between these two groups.

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They have been crushed up on the boards, 48-30 — and remember, that disparity is even with Julius Randle exiting this recreation within the second quarter, with the Knicks sustaining a 59-49 lead after re-aggravating his left sprained ankle, which he injured final month.

The really wild stat: the Knicks had 20 second-chance factors off of 17 offensive rebounds whereas the Cavs had solely three factors. Jarrett Allen had solely 4 rebounds. The Cavs as soon as once more gave the Knicks alternatives on the boards after they opted to blitz Jalen Brunson (who nonetheless completed with 23 factors on 8 of twenty-two taking pictures).

It was one other simply OK for Donovan Mitchell offensively with 28 factors on 11 of 6 taking pictures, together with simply 19 factors by means of the primary three quarters. However once more, Cleveland couldn’t actually open its offense up past Mitchell as New York trapped and harassed him for many of the night. Nobody else actually managed to take over — aside from Darius Garland scoring seven fast factors within the fourth that allowed Cleveland to trim the result in six with 8:10 to play, however by no means any nearer.

Consequently, New York may maintain zoning in on Mitchell, stifling the Cavs offense as a complete.

But it surely was additionally the intangibles.

Early within the recreation, it appeared just like the Knicks as soon as once more got here in with all the fireplace, understanding the stakes in a closeout recreation. They led Cleveland 33-26 after the primary quarter, and had 12 factors mixed off of second-chance factors and Cleveland’s 5 turnovers over these first 12 minutes. The ambiance early in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was hardly electrical given the early deficit. It felt extra like a random recreation in January than a playoff atmosphere.

And the fact is, the Cavs didn’t actually give their followers a lot to cheer for.

The Cavs have been outworked, they have been beat up on the boards, and their roster deficiencies have been as soon as once more evident. There was no true spark coming from the bench, no magical rotation that would have mounted it. It goes again to this crew being top-heavy because of the commerce for Mitchell, an issue they’ve recognized exists and sure, tried to rectify earlier than the commerce deadline.

The scrappiness that has outlined them confirmed up in spurts on Wednesday — a unfastened ball play or a key rebound right here and there — nevertheless it was by no means sufficient to show the tide of the sport, by no means constant sufficient.

There’s nothing a lot new to say about this loss, as a result of it was merely the identical outdated story of this collection.

And sadly for the Cavs, it means the story of the 2022-23 season is ending sooner than most had hoped, with a first-round playoff exit.

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