New York Knicks Takeaways From Loss vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Nov 4, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center

(13) and New York Knicks forward

(7) battle for position for a rebound in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Things started out great for the New York Knicks Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They opened up a big early lead, and everyone was contributing. Then, the rest of the game happened and that cohesiveness that got them the early lead disappeared. After leading by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, the Knicks ended up losing the game by 10, 96-86.

It was a rough night for the Knicks following the first quarter, as they continually hurt themselves the rest of the night. Bad falls, untimely breakdowns defensively and the offense stalling turned what looked like it would be a great night into an extremely disappointing one.

This game was very similar to the one the Knicks played earlier in the week against the San Antonio Spurs. They couldn’t hang in the halfcourt with a team that was clearly superior, and it eventually wore on them. The Cavaliers just kept chipping at the Knicks, just like the Spurs, did, and once they broke through there was no turning back.

More from New York Knicks

• New York Knicks Fall to Eighth After NBA Draft Lottery
• New York Knicks: Players to Draft in Worst-Case Lottery Scenario
• New York Knicks: Three Players Who Should Thrive Under Tom Thibodeau
• Is Devin Booker to the New York Knicks Realistic?
• New York Knicks: Tom Thibodeau Officially Hired as Head Coach

The Knicks are clearly an improved team, and have shown they can hang with the best of them. They might be 2-3, but they have had a brutal schedule as all five games were against playoff teams from last season. The last two are against title contenders, so the Knicks will just have to take their lumps in the early going, learn from it and put those lessons to use as the season goes on.

There was obviously something they were doing right to open up a 15 point lead in the first quarter, they just could not sustain it throughout the whole game. It is something the Knicks will hopefully learn to do as the season wears on, as they have yet to play their expected lineup once this season with Arron Afflalo still sidelined.

Until he comes back and gets into the lineup, it is tough to judge who the Knicks truly are. Right now, they are a team that has some bright spots, but not enough of them to take down top tier teams in the NBA, at least not yet.

Hopefully that comes soon enough, but until then, the Knicks will have to just keep chugging along. They will see from the video from tonight’s game that a lot of the problems were self-inflicted and are things they can work on. Check out our takeaways from the tough loss to the Cavaliers Wednesday night.

Next: Matchup Of The Game Recap