- 1 New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers: a 37-point night that still lost by 12
- 2 New York Knicks: three straight wins and the second-stingiest defense in the league
- 3 Cleveland Cavaliers: 117.1 points allowed and a 1-4 road record
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers: a 37-point night that still lost by 12 
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points in Cleveland on Saturday, 21 of them in the fourth quarter, and the Cavaliers still lost 109-97 to the Knicks. By the time he got going, New York led 88-70 after three quarters.
The rematch comes four days later at Madison Square Garden, on Wednesday 11 November at 7:00pm ET. New York have now beaten Cleveland five straight times, a run that includes last season’s 4-0 sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.
The two teams arrive in very different shape. The Knicks are 5-4 and have won three in a row. The Cavaliers are 5-6 after Monday’s 124-112 loss in Charlotte, their second straight defeat, and they’re 1-4 away from home.
There’s one wrinkle in the New York case. The Knicks host Milwaukee tonight at 7:30pm ET, so Wednesday is the second night of a back-to-back, while Cleveland had Tuesday off after the trip to Charlotte.
I’m not convinced the schedule outweighs what happened under the rim on Saturday. New York out-rebounded Cleveland 49-40 and scored 26 second-chance points to the Cavaliers’ 8, and they took 96 shots to Cleveland’s 82.
Wednesday also opens a three-game stretch for Cleveland: the Garden, then Miami on Friday, then Dallas at home on Saturday.
New York Knicks: three straight wins and the second-stingiest defense in the league 
New York allowed 105.1 points per game going into Saturday, second in the NBA. Cleveland had been scoring 119.3 a night and finished on 97, shooting 42.7% from the field.
The start was rough. The Knicks lost to Philadelphia, at Boston and to Orlando in the opening stretch. Since then they’ve beaten Detroit 111-97, won 133-127 in Chicago and dropped a 98-93 game in Philadelphia before the current run: Brooklyn 103-90, Chicago 135-105 and Cleveland 109-97.
Jalen Brunson is averaging 26.2 points and has scored 38, 24, 19, 33 and 31 in his last five games. In Cleveland he went 12 of 25 from the field with nine assists.
Karl-Anthony Towns has been the more efficient half of the pair. He’s at 20.9 points and 13.6 rebounds on 56.5% shooting, he’s making 43.6% of his threes, and he put up 29 and 13 on Saturday.
Josh Hart is the name to check before tip-off. His right ankle kept him out against Chicago and Cleveland, he was questionable for Milwaukee, and head coach Mike Brown called it “nothing major”. Without him the starting five has been Brunson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Towns.
Mitchell Robinson left for Boston in the offseason and Andre Drummond arrived on a one-year deal. Drummond is averaging 7.8 rebounds off the bench, part of a frontcourt that’s won the glass in most of these games.
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Cleveland Cavaliers: 117.1 points allowed and a 1-4 road record 
Cleveland’s defense gave up 117.1 points per game going into Saturday, 23rd in the league. Then Charlotte made 23 of 46 threes on Monday and led by as many as 33.
The Hornets did that without Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Moussa Diabate. Kenny Atkinson pulled his starters and played reserves for the whole fourth quarter.
Mitchell is averaging 24.0 points on 48.8% shooting, but he had 11 on 4-of-11 in Charlotte. Evan Mobley scored nine with four turnovers. James Harden, who re-signed this summer on a three-year deal, is shooting 36.6% from the field and had four turnovers of his own on Monday.
Jarrett Allen is the one piece of good news. He’d missed two games with a knee contusion and came back in Charlotte with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Without him on Saturday, Cleveland lost the second-chance points 26-8.
Sam Merrill (elbow) and Jaylon Tyson (ankle) have both been out, with Wednesday listed as their estimated return. Peyton Watson, who arrived in August’s five-team trade from Denver, is averaging 11.3 points but shooting 18.2% from three.
The results against good teams haven’t been there. Cleveland lost twice to Oklahoma City in three days, 117-112 at home and 124-116 on the road, and the only comfortable win in this stretch came against Philadelphia, 119-95.
Probable lineup New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns (Josh Hart day-to-day, ankle)
Probable lineup Cleveland Cavaliers: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Meleek Thomas, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley (Jarrett Allen could return to the starting five)
Free NBA Prediction: New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Our prediction: New York Knicks to win
I’d back the Knicks. They beat this Cleveland team by 12 on its own floor four days ago, they defend better than almost anyone in the league, and the Cavaliers are 1-4 on the road with a defense ranked 23rd.
The back-to-back is the fair argument against. New York play Milwaukee on Tuesday night and Cleveland arrive with a day’s rest. Brunson and Towns combined for 60 points on Saturday, though, and nothing the Cavaliers did in Charlotte suggests they’ve found an answer for either of them.
No line had been posted for Wednesday at the time of writing. For reference, New York closed around 1.51 on the moneyline in Cleveland on Saturday. A similar price at the Garden is still worth taking.
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