3 Cavaliers to blame for Game 1 loss to Knicks
By Scott Rogust
Cavaliers to blame for Game 1 loss to Knicks, No. 1: Cedi Osman
While Donovan Mitchell was giving the Knicks fits, the Cavaliers had no answers for Jalen Brunson. After being held to just six points through the first 24 minutes of the game, Brunson came to life in the second half, scoring 21 points.
One sticking point from Brunson’s performance in the second half was that Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had Cedi Osman guarding him down the stretch. It worked as well as you would have imagined.
Take, for example, Brunson driving past Osman with ease for the clutch layup to extend New York’s lead to 99-95 with 35.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
It wasn’t just Osman’s guarding of Brunson late. He also allowed Josh Hart, with an injured ankle, to hit a go-ahead three-pointer, giving New York the 95-93 lead with under two minutes remaining.
Two clutch shots surrendered by Osman, leading to the Knicks taking a 1-0 series lead. Not great.