The NBA playoffs are officially underway in perhaps the best weekend of the season. Let’s get into what we learned.
The Big Takeaway
The Knicks’ defense may have been the most impressive unit of the day on Saturday. New York held the Cavaliers to a 102.1 offensive rating in its Game 1 win. In the regular season, the Cavs were eighth in the NBA with a 115.5 offensive rating. Outside of Donovan Mitchell, who scored 38 points, nobody else for Cleveland could sustain offense. Evan Mobley missed a bunch of shots in the paint. And the bench was especially bricky, with Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio, Dean Wade and Cedi Osman combining to shoot 4-of-13.
