Andre Drummond, a Westchester County resident who will be a free agent this summer, hit the Knicks for 33 points and 23 rebounds on Friday night, but it was former Knick Damyean Dotson who knocked out the Cavaliers.
Dotson’s seven runs in the final 2:40 sent the Knicks to their fifth straight loss in a 106-103 thriller at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Arena.
Dotson’s late rise ruined a great performance by Knicks rookie point guard Immanuel Quickley, who scored 23 points from the bench.
RJ Barrett made two expensive turnovers in the last 1:19 that ruined his solid performance.
Barrett hit a desperate 20-footer before the shot clock buzzed to bring the Knicks to 98-97 with 1:33 left. But then Barrett tried to dribble between his legs and the ball bounced off the back of his foot, flipping it over at worst, with 1:19 left.
That caused a foul in the path for Dotson, who sunk two free throws. The Cavaliers retained possession and Dotson drove for a lay-up. With 2:40 left, Dotson hit a big 3-pointer over Quickley to give the Cavs a five-point lead.
Trailing four, Barrett turned the ball over again with 20 seconds to go for Cleveland.
Drummond scored 20 points and brought in 14 rebounds in the first half. Seven of his rebounds were on the attack glass. No Cavalier in the past 20 years had posted a 20 and 14 half.
The resident of Mount Vernon may be on the move after this season. The Cavaliers may be willing to let the former Connecticut star go now that they’ve snagged ex-Nets center Jarrett Allen into the four-team James Harden trade.
Cleveland built a 12-point lead in a wild third quarter, but Quickley assisted in another attack. He hit a 3 pointer and then a floater. Julius Randle (28 points, six assists) took care of the comeback that brought the score to 80 after three.
The Knicks took a run of 16-0 to take an 84-80 lead early in the fourth quarter, but were unable to hold it.
Quickley came off the bench spectacularly, exploding for 12 points in 11 minutes with two assists in the first half. Quickley shot 5-for-8 from the field and made two 3-pointers in the first half.
Quickley, who was selected with the 25th pick of the first round in November, found folds in the defense of the Cavaliers and put the Knicks in a five-point lead by mainly playing with the ‘Quickley Quintet’ that the Cavaliers had in the preseason. killed. The only difference in the young five-piece band was Reggie Bullock in place of Barrett.
At a good moment, rookie Obi Toppin, back in his second game from a three-week absence due to calf tension, stole a pass and led Quickley for a 3-pointer.
On the next possession, Quickley hurled in and lobbed an alley for a Mitchell Robinson stuff and a 43-39 lead.
Robinson couldn’t compete with Drummond’s muscle when he was injured. Robinson fell awkwardly after missing a putback dunk. Coach Tom Thibodeau had him staggered up and down the court for two belongings before yanking the young center, and he went to the locker room. Robinson had taped his ankle at half time and came out for the third quarter, with a less than 100 percent view.