Knicks vs. Cavaliers, Game 4: How & Who to Watch as MSG Seeks Commanding Lead

This Sunday is anything but a day of rest for the New York Knicks.

New York has a chance to either take a commanding lead or prepare for an arduous trip back to Cleveland on Sunday afternoon. Game 4 of its best-of-seven NBA playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers will be staged at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks rolled to a 99-79 victory to take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven series on Friday night.

The Knicks not only enjoyed the benefits of a resurgent RJ Barrett (19 points on 8-of-12 shooting) but also a landmark defensive performance: prior to Friday's win, no team in the NBA had allowed fewer than 80 points in a game at any point this season. Through three games in the series, the Knicks are allowing 94.3 points per game (second in the tournament behind only Philadelphia, who advanced via sweep over Brooklyn on Saturday) and forcing 17 turnovers a game (best among playoff combatants).

What: Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 4 (NYK leads series 2-1)

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

When/Watch: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC

Who's Favored: NYK -2.5

Keep An Eye On: Josh Hart

Hart continues to endear himself to Knicks fans, many of who are seeing his re-arrival as a necessity this offseason. The 19-9 record the Knicks have posted since his arrival speaks for itself, as does his postseason style choice, but he has backed it up with a strong playoff debut, partaking in his first series after 372 games of waiting.

Hart's debut in Game 1 will go down among the gutsier performances in Knicks postseason history, as he tallied a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench and hit the go-ahead triple of a 101-97 victory on an ailing ankle. While he fell into the Knicks' Game 2 cesspool, he part of another dominant bench effort in Game 3, scoring 13 more points and staging brilliant defensive resistance that never allowed Cleveland to in close than nine in the second half.

With health questions surrounding starting five mainstay Quentin Grimes, it's possible that Knicks fans could see another desire fulfilled in the form of Hart hearing his name announced in pregame introductions. While Immanuel Quickley (who also enjoyed a resurgent Game 3) has been the go-to man for emergency starts, it was Hart that took over his spot when the second half opened on Friday.

Cav to Watch: Donovan Mitchell

Games like these are why Cleveland sent over a good part of its future (and its present, considering Lauri Markkanen, Jalen Brunson's Most Improved Player competition, was involved) to Utah in exchange for Mitchell. That's also why he caught the eyes of a Knicks organization that has been far too bereft of anticipated afternoons such as these.

Mitchell did what he could to salvage the Cavs' brutal offensive effort on Friday but, unlike the 38-point showcase in Game 1, he couldn't even keep things close this time around. Many pile on the Knicks for holding their ground in the midst of the Mitchell negotiations but the pressure's firmly on the shoulders of he and the Cavs this time around.

Mitchell's New York heritage as an Elmsford native has been a storyline in this series, but he has firmly put that behind him as he seeks an elusive series victory.

"Obviously coming back here, I haven't seen anybody, I haven't spoken to any of my friends," Mitchell said prior to Game 3, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. "(I'm) just kind of staying locked in in the moment, the present, and I'm sure at some point in time I'll sit and reflect and look at it and be like, 'Wow. As a kid, being from here, playing here, would be dope, but at the same time I got a job to do, be a leader for these guys.'"

Prediction

Knicks fans should tread lightly: Cleveland certainly won't make this easy, as they've proven equally capable of a defensive takeover.

But, after Friday, it's safe to say that momentum firmly rests in the Knicks' corner and New York played to a point where it might take more than 48 minutes for the Cavs to fully recover. Granted, that's the same situation the Knicks more or less made moot in the first Garden party but New York seems like a team well-equipped to build on the power they've acquired.

True to Knicks' fashion, they won't make it easy but the stage is set for a big opportunity and a big lead.

Knicks 104, Cavaliers 97

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Knicks? Click Here.

Follow AllKnicks.com on Twitter.

Add us as a preferred source on Google