Andre Drummond, a Westchester County native who will be a free agent this summer, beat the Knicks by 33 points and 23 rebounds on Friday night, but it was former Knick Damyean Dotson who knocked out the Cavaliers.
Dotson’s seven points in the final 2:40 led the Knicks to their fifth straight loss in a 106-103 thriller at the Rocket Mortgage Arena in Cleveland.
Dotson’s late attack ruined the fantastic performance of debutant Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, who scored 23 points off the bench.
RJ Barrett made two expensive turns in the final 1:19 that ruined his solid performance.
Barrett hit a 20-foot despair before the shot clock buzzed to bring the Knicks to 98-97 with 1:33 left. But then Barrett tried to dribble between his legs and bounce the ball on the back of his foot, turning it at the worst moment, with 1:19 to go.
This caused a free foul on Dotson, who hit two free throws. The Cavaliers maintained possession of the ball and Dotson headed for a tray. With 2:40 left, Dotson landed a big 3-point over Quickley to give Cavs a five-point lead.
Four below, Barrett turned the ball over again with 20 seconds left to ice for Cleveland.
Drummond scored 20 points and had 14 rebounds in the first half. Seven of his rebounds were on the offensive glass. No Cavalier in the past 20 years has posted a half of 20 and 14.
The Mount Vernon native may be on the move after this season. The Cavaliers may be willing to let the former Connecticut star go, now that they have captured the former Nets centerman, Jarrett Allen, in exchange for James Harden’s four teams.
Cleveland built a 12-point lead on a wild third quarter, but Quickley helped lead another attack. He hit a 3 point, then a float. Julius Randle (28 points, six assists) scored the comeback that tied the score in 80 after three.
The Knicks had a 16-0 streak to take an 84-80 lead at the start of the fourth period, but could not hold back.
Quickley was spectacular leaving the bench, exploding to 12 points in 11 minutes with two assists in the first half. Quickley kicked 5 in 8 of the field, making two strokes of 3 in the first half.
Quickley, who was chosen with the 25th choice of the first round in November, found wrinkles in the defense of the Cavaliers and put the Knicks in a five-point lead playing mainly with the “Quickley Quintet” that killed the Cavaliers in the preseason. The only difference in the young five-man band was Reggie Bullock in place of Barrett.
In a lovely moment, rookie Obi Toppin, in his second game back from a three-week absence due to a calf injury, stole a pass and fed Quickley to a 3-point basket.
In the next possession, Quickley zigzagged in and fired a lob alley-oop for Mitchell Robinson material and a 43-39 lead.
Robinson couldn’t compete with Drummond’s muscle, so he got hurt. Robinson fell awkwardly after missing a dunk. Coach Tom Thibodeau let him hobble up and down the court for two belongings before pulling out the young center, and he went to the locker room. Robinson had his ankle bandaged at halftime and left for the third quarter, looking less than 100 percent.