Knicks win Game Four, Cavaliers backed against the wall.

 The Cleveland Cavaliers needed a strong game in game four against the New York Knicks in order to even the series.

What they received was an uneven one that allowed the Knicks to hold off a second-half rally and win 102-93 to take a three-to-one lead in the series.

Cleveland will now need to win three remaining games in a row or their season will come to a disappointing end.

Darius Garland led Cleveland with 23 points and ten assists in the defeat.

The series will return home Tuesday for game five.

Swashbucklings

1) Donovan Mitchell is certainly entitled to a poor performance occasionally and sadly, this one came when the Cavaliers needed him most.

Mitchell finished with only eleven points on five of eighteen shooting and missed all of his three-point attempts.

2) Darius Garland scored only two points and at the half, Garland appeared on his way to his second stinker in a row against the Knicks.

And then the second half started and Garland caught fire, scoring the first fourteen points of the half and twenty-two of their first twenty-four.

Cleveland took the leaf for the first time all game after that run but would give it back by the end of the third period, trailing by two before being outscored by seven in the final quarter.

3) A series-long theme continued as the Knicks kicked the Cavaliers around on rebounds, beating them by fourteen overall and by ten on the all-important offensive rebound list.

I'm not sure how Koby Altman will achieve this considering his lack of resources but I'd consider a player that hits the offensive boards hard as an important need for next season.

4) Isaac Okoro did play seventeen minutes as a reserve, scoring nine points on a surprising nine shots in those minutes.

Okoro did connect on four of those but that's pretty high for a player that is often offensively challenged.

5) Cleveland did use veteran Danny Green, who was signed late in the season for his outside shooting and veteran leadership.

Green played four minutes, didn't attempt a shot, and finished without a stat other than a lone personal foul.

6) I'll save the obvious thoughts until the actual end of the series about the season disappointing Cavaliers fans but I will state this- should the series end in five rather than six and end in Cleveland losing two of three home games in front of their fans, the season will be even more disappointing than losing in six games with the season ending in New York.

It may be only for the dreaded "Moral Victory" but young teams doing things for the first time sometimes need a moral victory or two as part of the maturation process.