The New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet for the first time since the former sent the latter to an early vacation in the last playoffs. Will the Knicks keep Cleveland winless at home? Or, will the Cavs bring down New York?

Catch this game live on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:3- AM, Manila time

Away: New York Knicks (1-2/1-1 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Jalen Brunson
  • Quentin Grimes
  • RJ Barrett
  • Julius Randle
  • Mitchell Robinson

The Knicks are off to a rocky start to their season, with only a win to show through three games. It is still very early in the season to make substantial forecasts of New York’s future, but the Knicks have to start winning games. In their most recent outing, the Knicks lost to the New Orleans Pelicans on the road, 96-87, on Sunday. They couldn’t get their offense opposite the Pels, with New York shooting only 36.7 percent from the floor and committing a total of 18 turnovers.  

All that being said, the Knicks seem to be catching Cleveland at just the right time, as the Cavs have yet to win a home game in two tries this season. RJ Barrett currently paces the Knicks with 22.7 points per game this season, while Jalen Brunson is right behind him with 20.0, albeit on just 27.5 FG%. Seeing the Cavs, whom they eliminated last season, could give Brunson and Julius Randle the spark they need to be much more efficient with the ball. Like Brunson, Randle is struggling with his shot this season, as he’s producing just 13.7 points per game on 27.7 FG%. 

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Home: Cleveland Cavaliers (1-2/0-2 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Caris LeVert
  • Donovan Mitchell  (questionable)
  • Max Strus
  • Dean Wade
  • Evan Mobley

As mentioned, the Cavs are having a difficult time winning games in front of their home fans. After winning their season opener against the Brooklyn Nets on the road (114-113), the Cavs flew back to The Land and lost consecutive games there to the Oklahoma City Thunder (108-105) and to the Indiana Pacers (125-113). However, Cleveland missed the services of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in the Pacers game, leaving the Cavs incredibly shorthanded. 

Garland has been ruled out of Wednesday’s meeting with the Knicks, while Mitchell is expected to play. Another player to watch out for in Cleveland is Caris LeVert, who went off for 31 points on 12/28 shooting in the loss to Indiana. With Mitchell likely to play and a seemingly red-hot LeVert, the Cavs could score some measure of revenge versus the Knicks. Cleveland also has a new lethal weapon in its arsenal in the form of Max Strus, who has 13 3-pointers on 39.4 3FG% after three games this season. Strus torched the Knicks in the 2023 NBA Playoffs when he was still with the Miami Heat, averaging 14.7 points while making 2.8 threes per contest in the second round of that postseason.

Also take note that there’s a chance Jarrett Allen makes his season debut this Wednesday.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Cavs (+3) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The total (214.5) hits the Over.