2016 champ says he doesn’t care whether Cavs have chance vs. Knicks

Former Cleveland Cavaliers big man Channing Frye was a part of the team that won the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, so he certainly knows what it takes to accomplish the ultimate goal in the NBA.

Frye was recently asked on social media if the Cavs have a “fighting chance” to beat the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals if they play like they did in Game 7 of the second round, but Frye revealed that he doesn’t know or “care.” Instead, he is excited by the growth of this Cavs team, which he thinks will bode well in the long haul.

The Cavs turned in a strong performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Detroit Pistons on Sunday, winning 125-94 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since LeBron James left the franchise for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Prior to Sunday’s win, the Cavs had not made it out of the second round in the Donovan Mitchell era, but they battled back against Detroit after dropping the first two games of the series. Cleveland won two road games (Games 5 and 7) to advance, showing some impressive resilience after multiple years where it came up short in the playoffs.

Last season, the Cavs were the No. 1 seed in the East, yet they won just one second-round game against the Indiana Pacers. The year before that, Cleveland was ousted in five games in the second round by the Boston Celtics.

Now, Mitchell and the Cavs can turn their focus to a Knicks team that has won seven games in a row heading into Tuesday night’s Game 1.

Cleveland went 1-2 against the Knicks in the regular season, but it did win the lone meeting between the two teams after James Harden was traded to the squad.

Harden gives the Cavs a slightly different dynamic than they had with Darius Garland, and it may help them against a Knicks team that has now earned back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances.

Since Frye has seen growth with this Cavs group, it’s hard not to get excited about what the team could accomplish with a trip to the NBA Finals in reach. Cleveland has not made the Finals since the 2017-18 season, and it last won the title in the 2015-16 campaign.