Knicks vs. Cavaliers: How & Who to Watch in Donovan Mitchell's Visit
The wildest offseason fantasies of New York Knicks fans will come true on Sunday evening: Donovan Mitchell will play a game at Madison Square Garden.
Alas, Mitchell dons not the blue and orange of the Knicks but the wine and gold of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who continue the hosts' homestand from the basketball netherworld on Sunday evening. It'll be Mitchell's first game in New York since the hypotheticals of a roller-coaster offseason placed him in New York before the Cavs eventually closed the deal with his former employers from Utah.
The Knicks, losers of four in a row at MSG and six of their past eight overall, know what Mitchell's capable of: he scored 38 points and dished out 12 assists in their first meeting this season back on Oct. 30, a 121-108 Cavs victory that also saw Kevin Love tally 29 off the bench. New York is looking to salvage what's been a painful homestand, having dropped the first two legs, including an embarrassing 121-100 loss to Dallas on Saturday.
Cleveland, on the other hand, is coming off a 107-96 victory over Orlando on Friday night. Mitchell once again played a sizable role in the win, putting in 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting.
This will be one of two Manhattan visits from Mitchell this season, the other coming on Jan. 24.
What: Cleveland Cavaliers (15-8) @ New York Knicks (10-13)
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
When/Watch: Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, MSG/MSG Go
Who's Favored: CLE -3
Keep An Eye On: Quentin Grimes
The Knicks' recent struggles have partly coincided with Grimes' takeover of the primary shooting guard position, but the team's downfall has hardly been his fault. Grimes, the Knicks' first-round sophomore, is starting to find a rhythm in the opening five, averaging 10.7 points and shooting 61 percent from the field over his last three games.
While Grimes is primarily known for his shooting, his recent defensive efforts have been particularly inspiring: he's drawn early assignments in stopping superstars, primarily Ja Morant last Sunday and Luka Dončić yesterday. Dončić, for example, was held to 2-of-7 shooting in an inspiring first quarter before switches in the Knicks' game plan allowed the NBA's leading scorer a third-quarter breakout that spelled the Knicks' doom.
“I always want to take on a matchup like that being the competitor that I am,” Grimes said of his new bold defensive goals, referencing his Morant assignment last weekend. “I know he’s a great player, one of the better guards in the league, for sure. I've got to make sure me and (Mitchell Robinson) are on the same page coming into the game. He had my back, I had his back, and we had it going there. I tried to contain him as much as I could really going into the game."
Sunday's showdown with Mitchell will be a particularly pressure-packed case for Grimes: already blessed with a considerable amount of power as a youngster in a Tom Thibodeau system, offseason rumors indicated that the Knicks did everything in their power to keep him away from the negotiations with Utah, partly leading to Cleveland's victory in the Mitchell sweepstakes.
Cav to Watch: Darius Garland
The Cavaliers were already sitting relatively pretty before Mitchell made it to "The Land" thanks to the headlining efforts of Garland, who has refused to fade into the background. Garland has kept his role as an All-Star facilitator alive, averaging eight assists per game. The Knicks were spared of Garland's antics in their first meeting in October but he enters on a bit of a heater, earning at least 10 assists in three of his past six games.
Before that, Garland also had a 41-point, five-steal game in a win over Charlotte, one that impressed accomplished contemporary and opponent Gordon Hayward. Combined with at least five assists (6), Garland became only the second Clevelander to post such a box score in a single game, joining LeBron James.
“He has turned into an incredible basketball player,” Hayward said. “I think that he has the ability to really run the show as a point guard. I think in the last two years he has shown that he can also score the ball. He is obviously a tremendous basketball player and he’s a tough cover.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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