New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-124: How Tyler Kolek saved Christmas

The New York Knicks staged a late comeback to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 126-124. The Knicks were down by 17 points in the fourth quarter before making a huge run to steal a Christmas victory.

This was a rare case of the starters being outplayed nearly the entire game, but New York’s second unit is emerging and picked them up. The Knicks started the night struggling, while Cleveland couldn’t miss from deep. But Jordan Clarkson and Mohamed Diawara helped get the three pointers falling for New York, and the second unit helped turn a 15-point deficit after one quarter into a two-point advantage at halftime.

The third quarter started like the first. The Cavs looked unstoppable, while the Knicks couldn’t buy a basket. The lead got as bad as 17 points early in the fourth quarter, but New York fought back again. This time, Tyler Kolek’s timely three-pointers headlined the comeback run, but Jalen Brunson’s go-ahead three helped seal it.

The Knicks stole victory from the jaws of defeat. Let’s enjoy the holiday showdown through individual performances.

This performance from Jalen Brunson showed resilience. He didn’t always have his offense going, with shots rimming out or help defense refusing to let him get anything easy. But Brunson scratched and pulled, and three-pointered his way to a 30-point performance.

Brunson never quite got into the type of flow we’re used to. Cleveland threw a lot at him to keep his game from truly exploding. But with New York trailing late, he still hit the go-ahead three that gave the Knicks their last lead of the night. Captain Clutch strikes again.

While other Knicks made significant impacts, Jordan Clarkson might have been the most important. He entered the game with New York struggling from three, and proceeded to knock down shot after shot. He started the second quarter with consecutive threes that sparked a quarter-long run. Then JC never slowed down after.

Clarkson added 25 points on a night when KAT, Bridges, and OG all fell short of their season averages. He stepped up with the necessary scoring and played a respectable level of defense, including disruptive steals and some feisty defense on slashers. Brunson might deserve the game ball, but Clarkson has a case of his own.

Two issues kept Karl-Anthony Towns from hitting his typical metrics. First, he got into foul trouble instantly, which cut into his minutes and sapped his ability to defend effectively. Second, while he could beat his defenders to the rim, he repeatedly got sent crashing to the ground without a whistle.

KAT didn’t have his best performance, but he played tough. He fought through contact and grabbed boards despite taking a beating. The big man made a putback at the end of regulation that proved decisive. So, this wasn’t a peak performance, but it’s not as bad as the numbers might seem.

The Tyler Kolek effect continues to astound me. He had seven assists before he played ten minutes or attempted a single field goal, and the offense rolled to a +18 during the run. Then he entered in the second half and hit three-pointer after three-pointer to help bring New York back from its second double-digit deficit.

Kolek finished with 16 points and nine assists in 25 minutes, and the Knicks outscored Cleveland by nearly a point per minute that he played. His chasedown block on a Donovan Mitchell fast break was a defensive highlight.

It’s impossible to overstate how crucial the sophomore’s impact has been in the past few games.

The Knicks’ second-half comeback seemed to find a spark in Josh Hart. But during one of his coast-to-coast attacks, Hart stepped on Dean Wade’s foot and twisted his ankle. The Knicks’ energizer went straight to the locker after his free throws and didn’t return.

Hart was off to another strong performance, but didn’t get to complete his night.

I’ll give the Cavaliers’ defense credit for keeping Mikal Bridges at bay. Bridges hit his jumpers when he could get open, but the Cavs stuck to him closely for most of the action. He typically beats close outs with a pump fake and drive, but the Cavs’ bigs never let Mikal get his pull-up jumpers off clean inside the arc.

To Bridges’ credit, the Knicks’ defense only showed a pulse when he stepped up to pressure Darius Garland. New York’s point of attack defense missed Deuce McBride, but Bridges typically forced ball-handlers to swing to someone else for success.

Something’s brewing at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are 14-2 at home, and their second unit is providing the depth they sorely lacked last year. When starters have off nights, bench players are ready to step up and help. Tyler Kolek’s emergence and Jordan Clarkson's finding his rhythm mean that Deuce McBride and Landry Shamet will give Mike Brown a plethora of options to counter his opposition.

The Knicks won, Christmas basketball was fun as ever, and the Garden is one of the toughest places to play in the NBA. This season has been a treat so far! See you next time, Knicks’ fam.