Knicks turn in season-worst quarter in 109-94 loss to Cavs

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Feb 24, 2026

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Welcome to the roller-coaster ride that is the 2025-26 Knicks season, a ride beginning with a free-fall from all-time highs: the post-Eastern Conference finals firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau, coinciding with the hiring of Mike Brown.

The Knicks haven’t quite been the same ever since, and even though eight players from last year’s roster are back chasing a title this time around, the group in orange and blue looks unrecognizable.

Their third quarter in Cleveland may have been their worst of the last three years. It was certainly the lowest point offensively for a team that’s taken its lumps adapting to Brown and his coaching philosophies.

Those philosophies were supposed to generate quality offense and give birth to the type of aggressive defense capable of consistently creating transition opportunities.

The Knicks had lapses on both ends in their 109-94 loss to the Cavaliers at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Tuesday. In the third quarter, they shot 3 of 24 from the field and 1 of 12 from downtown for 11 points coming out of halftime.

The 40-point quarters seem like a lifetime ago. The Knicks managed just 40 points in the second half against the Cavaliers. They shot 10 of 37 from behind the arc on the night.

Eleven points ties the Knicks for their second-lowest scoring quarter since 2020. It is the fewest points they have scored in a period since acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges via trade two summers ago.

Both of those acquisitions seem lost in Brown’s new offense. Bridges shot 6 of 17 for 18 points and missed a number of lightly contested layups at the rim. Towns, who scored 25 and 28 points in his last two games, took just five shots — four in the first half, one in the fourth quarter — and logged 14 points and seven rebounds.

And Brunson, in a big spot, in a matchup seemingly skewing in his favor against a Cavs backcourt with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, shot just 6 of 19 for 20 points on the night. The Knicks were outscored by 20 points in Brunson’s 36 minutes on the floor.

Brunson scored one point and missed all six of his shots in the third quarter.

Mitchell led all scorers with 23 points on 5-of-18 shooting, and Harden added 20 points and four assists. Jarrett Allen scored 19 points and hauled in 10 rebounds, and the Cavs made it nine wins in their last 10 games with Tuesday’s victory.

And now, like the Detroit Pistons, the Cavaliers have all the confidence heading into the playoffs, should the ever-so fickle NBA standings tilt towards a Cleveland-New York series. The East’s second through fifth seeds (the Celtics, Knicks, Cavs and Raptors) are only separated by 3.5 games, which means a No. 2 vs. No. 3 second-round series can’t be ruled out of the equation.

The Knicks are now 2-1 on the year against the Cavaliers, their only loss coming after the trades that sent Darius Garland (Los Angeles Clippers) and De’Andre Hunter (Sacramento Kings) out while bringing Harden, Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis in. They are 0-3 against the Detroit Pistons with an average margin of defeat of 28 points and 2-1 against the Boston Celtics for a 4-5 record against the Eastern Conference’s top-four seeds.

The Knicks are also 0-1 against the San Antonio Spurs (not counting the NBA Cup Final victory), 1-0 against the Houston Rockets and 1-0 against the Denver Nuggets out west. They have not yet played the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Knicks are now 1-1 on their three-game road trip after Sunday’s victory in Chicago over the Bulls. Next up: two days off, and some much-needed practice, before a matchup in Milwaukee with the Bucks on Friday.