CLEVELAND — Is the task harder now? Sure it’s harder. If Josh Hart can’t play because of his sprained ankle — or is significantly limited — it makes the mission much harder. Same deal if Julius Randle finds things a slower go in his second game after a long layoff. Same deal if anything happens to any of the essential Knicks during the game.
That only emphasizes the point, underlines it, stamps it in bold-faced type:
There are no house-money games in the NBA playoffs.
It’s easy to fall into this trap. Hell, I fell into this trap the other day, calling Game 2 of this Knicks-Cavaliers best-of-seven series a “house-money special.”
But we learned a couple of things this weekend.
- Anyone can beat anyone anywhere at any time in the NBA.
- Anyone can get hurt and suddenly you’re looking at a whole different reality.
The Knicks were one of four road teams who won their playoff opener over the weekend, seizing home-court advantage from a higher seed. There was a time when a lower seed beating a higher seed at home in the postseason raised eyebrows and stopped presses. That isn’t the case any longer. And if the Knicks can beat the Cavs in Cleveland, it only serves to reason that the Cavs can easily return the favor at Madison Square Garden.
And there goes your home-court advantage.
And we also saw how fickle the games can be. We saw the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo limp off a court in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon, and soon after Miami’s Tyler Herro followed him through the tunnel with a broken hand. We saw Ja Morant go down, maybe for the rest of the Lakers-Grizzlies series. We saw Hart roll an ankle, and then have to try twice before regaining his feet Saturday. Adrenaline probably carried him to the final buzzer then, but Tuesday is a different equation.
House money?
No such thing. Not anymore. The Knicks would be wise to take advantage if the Cavaliers play Game 2 as tentatively and as nervously as all of the ones not named Donovan Mitchell did in Game 1. Because you never know. You just don’t. You can’t.
“The thing is, each game is different,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Monday afternoon after Hart was a limited participant in the team’s practice at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. “So, you’ve got to get ready for each game and understand the intensity that goes into each game. So if we’re thinking about Game 1, that’s not going to help us in Game 2. We’ve got to think about Game 2 and all the things we need to do better in order to give ourselves our best chance of winning.
“Take it step by step. Don’t skip over anything. And be ready for this game. Don’t look ahead. Don’t look behind. Just concentrate on exactly what’s in front of you. And hopefully, we’ve been building that habit all year long.”
The Knicks are specifically qualified for this particular assignment. They had the fifth-best road record in the league this year, and including Game 1 they’re 25-17 away from the Garden. They have held their own in games when they’ve been shorthanded this year, whether the missing piece was Jalen Brunson or Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson or RJ Barrett.
Which is good, especially when you choose to remember: despite the final score Saturday, the Cavs didn’t finish four games clear of the Knicks in the standings because they won a raffle. They won 51 games. They’re damn good and with all due respect to Brunson, whenever Mitchell is in the game they have the best player on the floor.
So the Knicks have a real opportunity here. The crowd at the FieldHouse will be beside itself Tuesday night. The Cavs are a little salty; few people have ever mustered it in them to utter a disparaging word about Brunson but Isaac Okoro referred to his “antics” in drawing offensive fouls and Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said flatly: “We have to be more physical. It’s that simple.”
Want to catch a game? The Knicks schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Does that mean the Knicks are in the Cavs’ head? Probably not. It’s one game. But on the chance that they are? The Knicks need to seize the night. If they can come home to the Garden — where, let’s face it, they aren’t exactly a UCLA-with-Alcindor lock — up 2-0, they can really think about laying the hammer. One-one will be fine, sure.
But 2-0? Yeah. That would be something else entirely. And 2-0 doesn’t come by spending house money. No such thing. Not anymore.