CLEVELAND — The Knicks kept it closer. Just not close enough.
After getting waxed by the Cavaliers in their previous matchup in February, the Knicks led by double digits in the first half Wednesday before being pummeled by Cleveland in the third quarter and letting go of the rope in a 124-105 defeat.
The Knicks dropped to 0-8 against the NBA’s three top teams — the Cavaliers, Thunder and Celtics — but coach Tom Thibodeau pushed back at the idea they can’t overcome the best.
“Obviously the good teams, they’re going to have records like that against other teams. You have to play really well to beat them. And we understand that,” Thibodeau said. “But you also have to look at all the factors that go into it. Is it a back-to-back? Do they have two days of rest? What’s their situation?
“We’re capable of beating anyone. We’re capable of losing to anyone, too.”
As Thibodeau indicated, Wednesday had the makings of a schedule loss regardless of the opponent.
The Knicks arrived in Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back, having dispatched the Sixers at MSG on Tuesday.
Jalen Brunson traveled but remained sidelined with a sprained ankle.
The Cavs, meanwhile, had two days off at home before facing the Knicks.
They were fully healthy and riding a stretch of four wins in their past five contests.
So it was an uphill battle for the Knicks. And it caught up with them.
After leading by as many as 15 points, they were overwhelmed as Mikal Bridges turned passive offensively (just eight points on six shots in 36 minutes), Karl-Anthony Towns became turnover-happy (he committed seven) and Donovan Mitchell proved unstoppable (27 points on 10-of-18 shooting in just 30 minutes with three blocks).
The turning point was with about three minutes remaining in the second quarter, when Towns and OG Anunoby both picked up their third foul and were subbed out.
The Cavs quickly launched a 21-10 run spanning halftime to take the lead.
The Knicks lost their momentum.
“It changed the whole outlook of the game,” Josh Hart said. “When you’re already down three rotation guys [Brunson, Miles McBride and Cam Payne were all injured]. Two more basically are out of the game because of fouls, it changed the whole outlook. We were still up at that point. Got to just give them credit. That’s a good team. They’re No. 1 in the East for a reason. Got to tip your cap to them at times.”
The loss dropped the Knicks to 0-3 against the Cavaliers (61-15), with a final head-to-head on April 11 at MSG.
By that point, both sides will have likely locked up a playoff seed and attach little significance to the result.
So Wednesday was the last opportunity for the Knicks (48-28) to show they could hang with the top team in the East.
They failed.
Unlike their 37-point drubbing to the Cavs in February, however, the Knicks started hot as the aggressor with a double-digit advantage in the first quarter.
But the advantage disappeared after halftime, when the Cavaliers shot 17-of-21 – including 15-for-15 on 2-pointers — to take a six-point lead into the final quarter.
New York couldn’t stop the bleeding. Jarrett Allen added 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field as Cleveland made 53.2 percent of its attempts.
“When they started going on that run, it was tough to stabilize or kind of slow things down and get us back into a rhythm,” Hart said.
The Knicks carried the weight of prior disappointments against the Thunder, Cavaliers and Celtics.
Those results — which included multiple blowout defeats — sapped much of the outside enthusiasm for real title contention, leaving the Knicks a level below the upper crust and hovering closer to “pretender” status.
That didn’t change Wednesday.
But they didn’t seem discouraged.
“It’s 0-0 when you get to [the playoffs]. That would be the tell,” Towns said. “I don’t think anything right now should ruin our confidence or make this team feel any other way but extremely confident with the work we put in.”
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