Knicks at Cavaliers Preview: How, Who to Watch as Modern Rivalry Renews

The reeling New York Knicks will look to get back on track against a familiar foe in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The New York Knicks know a thing or two ... maybe even four ... about big wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Reeling from a fearsome February, the Knicks will look to add another on Sunday night when they face the Cavs on the road to open a jittery March. A four-game homestand at Madison Square Garden will precede a four-game homestand before a trip out west induced by the annual Big East Men's Basketball Tournament's annual visit to Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks dropped eight of their dozen games in February, capping things off with a 110-99 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on Leap Day. New York continues to suffer from the indefinite losses of OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson but continues to hold the fourth seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket entering the March landmark. After also falling to New Orleans by a 115-92 final on Tuesday, the Knicks were limited to double-figures in consecutive games for the first time all season.

Anyone trying to console themselves with the idea of landing Donovan Mitchell this offseason may be disappointed: Cleveland is currently clashing with the Milwaukee Bucks for the East's second seed and has gone 21-6 in the new calendar year. The Cavs have somewhat stumbled out of the post-All-Star gate with losses in three of their first five but they managed to right their ship with a 110-100 win over Detroit on Friday.

This rematch of last season's Eastern Conference quarterfinal series will be the third and final one staged this regular season, as the two teams split a home-and-home that ended October and began November. Each side won on the other's homecourt as Randle had a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in a 109-91 triumph on Halloween.

What: New York Knicks (35-25) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (39-20)

Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, OH

When/Watch: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN

Who's Favored: CLE -6.5

Keep An Eye On: Alec Burks

Signing Shake Milton was likely done in the name of combating injuries, and that's understandable: Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo have each endured nagging medical woes and Milton could work well in head coach Tom Thibodeau's desires for depth. But the transaction could be a foreboding sign for plenty of names on the New York ledger: Miles McBride's uphill battle to carve a lasting role for himself has been long-documented but Burks' homecoming has been anything but sweet. Since bursting onto the scene with a 22-point performance against Indiana, Burks has averaged only 6.6 points in just over 17 minutes, shooting worse than 28 percent from the field. Thibodeau might have enough trust in him to ensure staying power, but is Sunday's game a potential last stand?

Cav to Watch: Darius Garland

The transactional drama between Mitchell and the Knicks has been well-documented, but the Cavs were primarily sustained by Garland (20.6 points, 38.7 percent from three-point range) in their futile attempts to stifle the momentum of last year's New Yorkers. Garland, who did not play in the first two rounds from the Knicks, will force Sunday's visitors to keep an eye on the perimeter: over his last two games, Garland has sunk 15-of-26 with an extra point on the line.

They Said It

“We clearly need to be better. We can definitely learn from our past. We can be upset, (ticked) off for the rest of today, until we fall asleep. But tomorrow morning, we’ve got to be focused on the next one. Keep our spirits up, keep our confidence up. We all need to work hard individually to be confident.”-Jalen Brunson on the Knicks' recent slump (h/t Tim Bontemps, ESPN)

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Prediction

March is a time for the Knicks to start anew, to find some balance and sense of sanity as they continue to navigate their way through a dangerous post-Anunoby, post-Randle landscape. But their issues over the past few games hinted that things aren't so cut and dry as they seem. There's a chance, and a plan, to make things right, but it's hard to see that happening against a Cavs group with plenty to prove

Cavaliers 111, Knicks 103