Knicks vs. Cavaliers score, takeaways: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart shine as New York takes 3-1 series lead

The Knicks are now just one win away from their first playoff series win since 2013

The New York Knicks defended their home court and took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 102-93 win in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. They'll now have a chance to close out the series in Game 5 on Wednesday and advance to the second round for the first time since 2013.

Jalen Brunson, as he has all season long, led the way for the Knicks with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists, but he got plenty of help. RJ Barrett scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Josh Hart chipped in 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in an all-around effort and Mitchell Robinson added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Once again, the Cavaliers struggled to find any consistent offense; in fact, outside of the first eight minutes of the third quarter, when Darius Garland took over the game, they were pretty bad on that side of the ball. Donovan Mitchell's 5-of-18 shooting performance with six turnovers epitomized their frustrating afternoon.

Here are three key takeaways from the game:

1. Knicks' defense sets the tone again

The Cavaliers had a top-10 offense in the league in the regular season, but outside of Game 2, they haven't been able to get anything going on that side of the ball. In fact, in Game 3, they became the first team in the league to score fewer than 80 points since the beginning of the regular season. 

They weren't quite that bad on Sunday, but they once again struggled to find any consistent scoring against the Knicks' rugged defense. The Cavs' lack of consistent outside shooting has become a major issue for them; not only do they not make enough 3s, but their reluctance to even take them allows the Knicks to send multiple defenders at Donovan Mitchell and pack and paint. 

Mitchell was a disaster in Game 4, finishing with 11 points and six turnovers on 5-of-18 from the field. Some of that was just plain old bad shooting, but he has to work so hard for his looks and is often getting the ball taken out of his hands. When that happens, the Cavs don't have anyone who can reliably knock down an open shot or create their own offense outside of Darius Garland and, at times, Caris LeVert. 

All of which makes you wonder how the Cavaliers can possibly win three consecutive games. 

2. Barrett steps up

RJ Barrett has been a frustrating player ever since he entered the league. He clearly has all sorts of talent, but he hasn't been able to figure out how to apply it consistently. He had things working in Game 4, though, and could not have picked a better time to have the best playoff game of his career. 

With Julius Randle struggling mightily, Barrett stepped up to be their second star on the day behind Jalen Brunson. There's no question that for as good as the Knicks' defense was on the day, they would not have won this game without Barrett's playoff career-high 26 points. 

Though he didn't have a great day shooting the ball from the perimeter, Barrett was relentless in driving to the basket as he shot 9-of-12 in the paint and got to the line for 13 free throw attempts. He also showed some impressive basketball IQ with when and where he attacked.  

When Evan Mobley went out with four fouls late in the third, Barrett immediately went to the rim to earn free throws and a layup on consecutive possessions. Then, when Mobley checked back into the game early in the fourth, Barrett went straight at him and forced him to pick up his fifth foul on an and-one. Mobley's absence for large parts of the second half was a real problem for the Cavs; they were plus-two with him on the floor in a game they lost by nine. 

3. Knicks on the verge of the second round

The Knicks are one of the league's most iconic franchises, but their location in New York City and success in their early days of existence are the primary reasons for that. In the modern era, they've largely been a laughingstock; since the turn of the century, they've won one playoff series. 

That appears likely to change this season, as they only need one more win to advance to the second round for the first time since 2013. In that time, 23 of the other 29 franchises have won at least one playoff series, which shows how far the Knicks had fallen. 

Whatever ends up happening during the remainder of this postseason, perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Knicks is that those days seem to be over. At the very least they are going to be a competitive playoff team with Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle leading the way. Plus, they have the assets to swing a big trade if necessary and have regained the cache to draw stars to Madison Square Garden. 

[Apr 23, 2023 at 3:37 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Knicks on the verge of first second-round appearance in a decade

The Knicks took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Cavaliers with their Game 4 win on Sunday and are now just one win away from the second round. That's somewhere they haven't been since 2013, when they were still led by Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith

[Apr 23, 2023 at 3:19 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Knicks surge to nine-point lead

The Knicks looked a bit stunned in the third quarter, but they've been excellent in the fourth to re-take control of the game. With Evan Mobley stuck on the bench with foul trouble, they've been attacking the basket with even more force and just converted a few layups to push their lead back up to nine points and force a Cavs timeout

[Apr 23, 2023 at 3:16 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Mitchell's brutal shooting day continues

Donovan Mitchell just had a 3-pointer go in and out and then a baseline mid-range jumper that did the same thing. Those two shots continued his brutal shooting day; he's now 4-of-16 from the field and has more turnovers (five) than made shots. This one is starting to get away from the Cavs a bit

[Apr 23, 2023 at 3:08 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Mobley back in and immediately gets his fifth

Evan Mobley checked back in and immediately picked up his fifth foul with nearly 10 minutes to play. He has to go back to the bench and the Cavs will have to go small again. That's bad news, especially now that the Knicks have pushed their lead back to five. It will be interesting to see how long JB Bickerstaff keeps Mobley on the bench here down the stretch 

[Apr 23, 2023 at 3:01 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Third quarter: Knicks 73 -- Cavaliers 71 

The Cavaliers turned this game around an awesome third quarter, but a late Jalen Brunson 3-pointer gave the Knicks the lead back heading into the fourth quarter. We're now in for what should be a thrilling and dramatic close to this game. Will the Knicks take a commanding 3-1 lead? Or will the Cavs steal homecourt back and send things back to Cleveland at 2-2?

Darius Garland was the key story from the third quarter, as he scored or assisted on 22 of the Cavs' 26 points. The Cavs are a much better team when him and Mitchell are both getting involved and attacking, and their extra ball and man movement in the third was a massive difference from the first half

[Apr 23, 2023 at 2:51 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Mobley gets his fourth

The Knicks have done a good job getting downhill and drawing fouls in this game (even if they're actual free throw shooting has been a bit disappointing). That effort just paid off in a big way as Evan Mobley picked up his fourth foul with 3:32 left in the third quarter. He'll head to the bench and will have to be cautious on defense the rest of the way when he gets back in 

[Apr 23, 2023 at 2:42 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Garland is dominating

Darius Garland is straight-up dominating the third quarter of this game. He's scored or assisted on 16 of their 18 points in the frame and has the Cavs in front for the first time at 63-61. The Cavs got him moving off the ball to start the quarter and lately have been putting it in his hands to let him run pick-and-roll instead of Donovan Mitchell. A stunning turnaround