The New York Knicks have been a thorn in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ side in recent years. When the two teams did battle in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Cleveland got embarrassed.
Despite holding home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series, the Cavaliers were eliminated in five games, with their lone win coming in Game 2.
However, Cleveland’s blowout win over the Knicks on Feb. 21 suggests that the days of the Cavaliers getting pushed around by New York are over. The Cavaliers won by 37 points, and guard Ty Jerome seemingly took a shot at former Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff when asked what’s changed in the dynamic between the two teams.
The Cavs Players hated JB Bickerstaff LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/3ZwdnlPcuh
— ‘ (@GroomedByCavs) February 22, 2025
“A few things,” Jerome said. “We got a new coaching staff, and that’s helped tremendously. And yeah, that’s the biggest thing.”
Jerome was an important part of Cleveland’s wire-to-wire victory over New York earlier in the week. He had a big game off the pine with 19 points while shooting 7-of-11 from the field and connecting on all but one of his four 3s.
Just last season, he played in only two games under Bickerstaff due to injury. So far this season, he’s been one of the more effective role players in the league when factoring his scoring and playmaking chops along with his efficiency.
The Cavaliers improved to 46-10 on the season with the win and furthered the gap between them and the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings. New York has still been one of the better teams in the conference, but it trails Cleveland by a whopping nine games at this juncture.
The Knicks also have yet to pick up a win over the Cavaliers since the start of the 2024-25 campaign. New York lost to Cleveland for the first time of the season back on Oct. 28, though that contest was a lot closer. The Cavaliers won that game by just six points.
Cleveland and New York will face off twice more before the end of the regular season, and both of those bouts are slated for the month of April. The Cavaliers will host the Knicks on April 2 and then take on New York at Madison Square Garden on April 11.
Perhaps Cleveland and New York will meet in the playoffs once again later this year.
