Knicks' Truth Undeniable After Cavaliers Blowout

It's far from fair to pin the solution to the New York Knicks' problems on one man.

Oct 30, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The Factory of Sadness prepared a special treat for the New York Knicks on Friday night: the Manhattanites put forth plenty of new mistakes on the lake in the form of a 142-105 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was a historic night for the Knicks for all the wrong reasons: such a deficit had never appeared in a New York box score since the final days of the doomed David Fizdale era, as a Tom Thibodeau-led blue-and-orange group had never trailed by that much in a single game.

Nov 1, 2023; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) blocks a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Knicks also remain winless against the Association's finest, having posted six fruitless faceoffs against Cleveland, Boston, and Oklahoma City, the teams with the three best records on the current NBA leaderboard.

“You can’t explain it,” Knicks franchise face Jalen Brunson said of the defeat, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “I’m at a loss for words really.” 

The worst part about a loss like Friday's is that, even if the Knicks somehow best Boston on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC), it kills off most, if not all, excuses the most annoyingly optimistic Knicks fan had left in his or her arsenal—and that includes trying to exterminate the injury bug.

If the Knicks could glean any sort of positive from Friday's disaster, it's that the injured Josh Hart (knee soreness) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) didn't have to subject themselves to such malarkey. Hart, as tenacious and ruthless on the floor as he is fun-loving off of it, likely won't take kindly to what transpired on Friday.

The Knicks don't have to worry about what he's going to bring (back) to the table. But the latter case is far more complicated—and uncomfortable.

This season to date has more or less served as a build-up for the very special episode where Robinson dons a game jersey again. The Knicks are reportedly close to that point, albeit not to the extent where the longest-tenured New Yorker has a designation beyond "out." Even so, there's a palpable anticipation to Robinson's return, one where the Knicks can truly label themselves "full strength" in their most legitimate championship case in quite some time.

After all, there are numbers that demonstrate Robinson's value on a team packed to the brim with name-brand talent. His status as one of the few traditional centers still making a modern Association living gives the Knicks a secret weapon that not many have stashed, the seven-footer that camps under the basket, shoots over 70 percent while not taking a single shot from more than five feet away, and promptly handles any space invaders.

If the NBA All-Star Game still offered spots on a direct position-by-position basis, Robinson probably could've gotten in alongside the likes of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Brad Miller. Certainly Robinson could've done something about the Cavaliers during the first half into their own personal dunk contest, as Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley's interior antics set a dour tone after the Knicks scored the first five points. Cleveland wound up scoring 66 points in the paint in Friday's fracas, a tally Robinson certainly could've shrunken had he been able to partake.

But recent showings have shown that it's not fair to Robinson to pin everything solely upon his return.

Is Robinson supposed to handle the Knicks' anemic three-point defense (hardly helped by the return of OG Anunoby after a six-game departure) at the top of the key? Should he be forced to find a way to drag the Knicks out of the middle stages of the forced turnovers department (18th entering Saturday)? When the Knicks lose control of the scoreboard, does he provide enough offensive firepower to justify continued minutes?

Robinson himself can't even be blamed for it: he knows the role the Knicks have acquired him to do and that his addition to the recipe is more as a delectable topping than it is as any sort of taste-shifter. On a personal level, this is hardly a time to experiment: Robinson's Knicks status may have survived the trade deadline but what's to stop the team from flipping his $13 million contract, expiring after next season, for further assets, especially with rookie Ariel Hukporti fulfilling similar duties for the time being?

It's not fair to the Knicks and it's not fair to Robinson to pin all of that on No. 23 when he makes his return, one that's sure to be abbreviated be minutes restrictions and medical caution. For as talented as he may be and as brilliant of a niche hae has established for himself in Manhattan, the reutrn of Robinson is not the 40-point flip the Knicks desperately needed on Friday night.

Knicks fans from October would be planning a parade if they were offered the basics of where this season would stand at the All-Star break landmark: despite a relatively revamped team, the Knicks hardly have to worry about falling to Play-In purgatory and have created a decent nestegg within the Eastern Conference's top three. The 36 games they won by the All-Star break were the third-best tally in franchise history—behind only the ones put up by their championship squads from five decades-plus prior.

Apr 23, 2023; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) dunks against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) and center Jarrett Allen (31) during game four of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

To that point, it's not cute or fun to lose in the second round anymore. The Knicks have been denied the mere conference finals for over two decades, much less the late-spring classic witnessed by the Larry O'Brien Trophy. The fact that the Knicks can't even hold a candle to the league's elite, namely the undisputed top couple in the East, suggests that it will be an uphill battle to reach the Association's most exclusive playoff round.

The blame for such a phenomenon (Should the Knicks have been more active at the deadline? Was with worth mortgaging the future for Mikal Bridges?) is a conversation for another day. Right now, the Knicks have to figure out ways to makeup big deficits against the league's elite. For better and worse, Robinson's return is not the sole solution.

Robinson or no Robinson, this is who the Knicks are, whether they like it or not. It's up to them to show whether that's for the best.

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