Tom Thibodeau Embraces Knicks Early Challenge

If an early NBA knockout tournament was decided by an NCAA Tournament/College Football Playoff-style ranking, the New York Knicks would have nothing to worry about in the strength of schedule department.

The NBA’s scheduling department granted the Knicks an instant opportunity to prove their worth against the Eastern Conference’s finest: Monday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) wraps up an instant gauntlet against their three brothers from last year’s conference semifinal round.

“We’re being tested right away by some of the best offenses in the league,” head coach Tom Thibodeau noted, per Ethan Sears of the New York Post. “Cleveland falls into that category. We’re going to have to be tied together in that game as well.” 

New York (1-1) fell to the defending champion Boston Celtics in Tuesday’s opener but brilliantly recovered with a blowout win over the Indiana Pacers in the first game on the 2024-25 Madison Square Garden docket on Friday. Indiana, of course, ended the Knicks’ most recent playoff run last spring.

Thibodeau praised the all-around efforts of Friday’s game, which saw the Knicks lead by as much as 33, allow only three from beyond the arc, and win the rebounding battle by 10.

“There were several sequences in which I thought our defense was really tied together,” Thibodeau said. “I thought OG [Anunoby] was really disruptive, his activity was through the roof. I thought Josh [Hart’s] all-around game was huge for us. Jalen [Brunson’s] Jalen and then the bench guys are good as well.” 

The Knicks now face the Cavs, one of four perfect teams left on the current ledger. Like the Knicks, Cleveland (3-0) is looking to get past the conference semifinal hump. They’re set to fight with recurring Knicks target Donovan Mitchell on their side for the long haul, as the Westchester County native signed a contract extension that is set to keep him in Cleveland through at least 2028.

The first two years of Cleveland’s Mitchell era have been defined by disappointment: the Cavs dropped an opening round set to the Knicks in 2023 before falling to the Celtics in an uncompetitive semifinal set.

Thibodeau, however, refuses to underestimate Cleveland’s multi-pronged assets.

“Any team when you have Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, it’s very dynamic,” Thibodeau said, per Sears. “You’re talking about Jarrett Allen and [Evan] Mobley up front and then they adjust and they got [Dean] Wade, they got [Georges] Niang, they got guys. [Sam] Merrill, who can spread the floor and shoot threes.”

“So it’s a team that’s very potent offensively,” the coach continued. “They can play fast, they can bring it down off the dribble and the bigs on the boards, you’re concerned about that and so you have to be strong in every area. You have to finish your defense, you have to finish your offense against them. [They] have shot-blocking — they’re a very good team.” 

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