By Eurohoops team/info@eurohoops.net
It was a intense atmosphere in Madison Square Garden. LeBron James’ comments about Dennis Smith Jr. being overlooked by the Knicks who picked Frank Ntinikila in the draft, did not sit well with Enes Kanter or his teammates and the Knicks came out with some fire. However the last word belonged to the “King”.
Despite a 23 point lead (73-50) for the Knicks with just 2:12 remaining in the third. It was all Cavs in the fourth tough as 3-point shots started falling and the Knicks had no answer. Kyle Korver had 19 of his 21 points in the quarter and the Cavs won 102-99. Lebron finished the game with one rebound shy of a triple double (23 p., 9 r. 12 as.).
Cedi Osman game his teams some quality minutes. He had 3 points in 5 minutes but played some nice defense during the Cavaliers run to comeback into the game.
Early in the first, LeBron had a heated exchange with Kanter and Ntilikina something that brought the crowd into the game. For the Knicks, Kristaps Porzingis had an off-night bust still finished with 20 points, 7 boards, an assist, 2 steals and a block. Enes Kanter was a force on the glass as he had 17 rebounds to go along with 20 points but was benched late for defensive purposes with the Cavs going small.
Frank Ntilikina (photo) had a career high 6 steals and finished the game with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.