Daily Report – 10/23/25
Knicks
A 119-111 win over Cleveland was the perfect way for the Knicks to start their most anticipated season in three decades. Last night, in front of a raucous Garden crowd, new head coach Mike Brown used 11 different players to beat the Cavaliers. Last season, the Knicks never beat the 64-win Cavaliers.
This is a special year because everything the Knicks do in the regular season serves as nothing more than preparation for the playoffs. Brown understands that, and his ability to go deep into his bench, without Josh Hart or Mitchell Robinson available, was something to marvel at.
“I truly believe this team is a deep team,” said Brown, who deployed 11 players in just 13 minutes. “Give Leon Rose and his group a lot of credit. It’s my job to keep trying to find combinations out on the floor that work. Just like they’ve got room to grow, I’ve got a lot of room to grow, too.”
Brown expressed that he doesn’t always plan to use this many players, but his experiment successfully discovered effective offensive and defensive combinations. Brown excels at breaking down his approach, which makes it easy to comprehend, and his main objective is pace. On their opening possession, the Knicks did something new, crafting an offensive approach that allowed Jalen Brunson to shoot an open three-pointer from the corner.
Brunson had a down game, scoring just 23 points, but he only played 34 minutes. As a result, five different Knicks tallied at least 15 points. OG Anunoby led the team with 24 points, and he clocked a career-high-tying 14 rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns also had a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards.
Anunoby was responsible for extending the Knicks’ lead to a game-high 17 points in the first quarter. He delivered a three-point field goal, but it would never have happened without Mikal Bridges’s offensive rebound. A few minutes later, Bridges stole the ball from Jaylon Tyson and shook free for an uncontested shot.
Cleveland came within one point during the second quarter as part of a 16-2 run, but the Knicks didn’t mind. Landry Shamet and Deuce McBride combined for 10 points as the Knicks gained another decisive lead.
“I said it before,” Brown said. “I think the group is deep, and they have all the attributes that I talked about earlier that are standard. Because of that, it doesn’t matter who is in front of us. We’re going to have an opportunity to win the game if we play within ourselves, and that’s what we did.”
Tyler Kolek, the NCAA’s assists per game leader in 2023-24, looked excellent off the bench backing up Brunson at point guard. He made an abundance of precise passes through tiny lanes, which helped the Knicks maintain a consistent pace of play. Nobody expected Kolek to receive as much playing time as he did, but just like his fellow benchmates, he made Mike Brown proud.
“Our expectations are extremely high,” said Brown. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, whether we won or lost. It’s one game. We feel like, as the season goes along, we’re going to get better. We won the game, and we had some good moments, but we don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of. That’s what makes it exciting.”
In the third quarter, Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell looked like he was going to single-handedly deliver a comeback win for Cleveland. He scored 21 points in the third quarter, while his teammates combined for just 16. That was the only point of the game at which the Knicks’ bench weakened. Once OG Anunoby returned to the court, it was as if Mitchell disappeared.
“OG was a monster,” Brown said. “He was our defensive player of the game. I think he had six or seven deflections. He guarded a lot of different people, so he saw a lot of different types of players tonight. He did a heck of a job.”
Brown put his core players – Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns – back on the court to begin the fourth quarter with the score tied at 87. Quickly, they exploded, embarking on a 14-2 run to torch Cleveland. They managed to extend that run and turn it into a victory.
“This is game 1,” Brunson said. “It’s not on us to speculate what’s gonna happen down the road.”
Well, Jalen, allow me to speculate on your behalf. Anything is possible for this crew if they can achieve this balanced, efficient style of basketball every night. The Knicks set the tone for what’s to come.
Schedule
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CDT): NYR vs. SJ; MSG
8:15 PM (7:15 PM CDT): Thursday Night Football (TNF), Week 8 – Minnesota Vikings (3-3) at Los Angeles Chargers (4-3); Prime Video
