The Fateful 48: Knicks, Brunson Survive Offensive Explosion in Cleveland

Behind an epic offensive performance from Jalen Brunson, the New York Knicks survived a duel with the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first post-Julius Randle excursion.

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If a playoff series between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers comes to pass, those who maintain the scoreboards at Madison Square Garden and Rocket Mortage FieldHouse should be ready to work overtime.

The two Eastern Conference playoff teams staged an offensive explosion on Friday night in Cleveland, with each side's new star taking center stage. In the end, Jalen Brunson outdueled Donovan Mitchell on both the team and personal box scores as the Knicks took a 130-116 decision. Brunson put in a career-best 48 points while Mitchell countered with 42, though only 19 came beyond the opening frame.

In their first game without Julius Randle, out for the next two weeks with a sprained ankle, the Knicks (45-33) had seven different players reach double figures. They bookended the victory with drastically different periods: the battle between Brunson and Mitchell began with the shooters uniting for 44 points as Cleveland (48-30) took a 47-42 lead. But the Knick tightened their defense up to allow only 44 points total in the second half, including a dominant fourth that saw them let up only 14. 

From the moment Randle went down on Wednesday night, the Knicks knew it'd take more than one man to make for the 25 points and 10 rebounds lost with his medically induced departure. In addition to the scoring showcase, the visiting Knicks outrebounded the Cavs by 15 (48-33) and dominated the second chance department at 16-3. Four different Knicks pulled in at least seven rebounds, with Mitchell Robinson leading the way with 14 (accompanying it with 10 points for a double-double).

To make matters even sweeter, Obi Toppin, called upon to individually replace Randle in the starting five (the first start of the season for the embattled first-round pick from 2020), flourished in extended duties, tallying 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes.

New York's biggest opponent on Friday was perhaps themselves: television cameras caught Toppin and RJ Barrett in a heated moment during a timeout but they were shown to have patched things up by the end of it.

SEVEN whole Knicks in double-digits 👀

JB 48 PTS | 9 AST | 4 REB
RJ 14 PTS | 7 REB | 1 AST
QG 14 PTS | 2 AST | 1 STL
IQ 14 PTS | 4 REB | 4 AST
OBI 12 PTS | 1 REB | 1 AST
HART 11 PTS | 7 REB
MITCH 10 PTS | 14 REB | 2 STL pic.twitter.com/vazIs0qTKJ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 1, 2023

Another sterling fourth quarter perhaps did a lot to ease tensions: two nights after letting up only 16 over the final dozen minutes to Miami, they limited the Cavs to 5-of-19 shooting in the end. In another sense of deja vu, reserves also came up big for the Knicks while Brunson recharged: a 14-2 run at the onset for the fourth that helped bury the Cavs, one that allowed the visitors to go up by as much as 15. Bench players accounted for all but four of those points.

The Knicks thus reached another major landmark on their playoff journey: with one more win or a Miami loss to Dallas on Saturday, New York will officially clinch a spot among the six automatic Eastern Conference playoff teams. Though catching the fourth-seeded Cavaliers and swiping homecourt advantage away is probably out of the question, the Knicks did secure a 3-1 season series victory against Mitchell, their former offseason target. The Knicks are also back to a dozen games over .500, tying their season-best. 

Should the Heat prevail on Saturday, the Knicks will get a chance to clinch the spot themselves on Sunday evening when they return home to face the Washington Wizards (6 p.m. ET, MSG).

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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