The NBA postseason arrived in Cleveland for the first time since it last did in 2018 but the Cavs fanatics present at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse went back home whining after watching their team lose 101-97 to the visiting New York Knicks.
Cleveland (51-31) opened the first-round series with homecourt advantage over New York (47-35) in the tightest battle of the playoff quarterfinals and 48 minutes later they had already lost it in favor of the men coming from Manhattan.
Julius Randle was fit enough to make the starting lineup along with Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, and Jalen Brunson.