If an early NBA single-elimination tournament were decided by an NCAA Tournament/College Football Playoff type seeding, the New York Knicks would have nothing to worry about in terms of strength in the scheduling department.

The NBA’s scheduling department gave the Knicks an instant opportunity to prove their worth against the Eastern Conference’s best: Monday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) closes out an instant challenge against their three brothers from last year’s conference semifinal. .

“We are immediately tested by some of the best offenses in the league,” noted head coach Tom Thibodeau. by Ethan Sears of the New York Post. “Cleveland falls into that category. We’ll have to be tied in this game, too.”

New York (1-1) fell to the defending champion Boston Celtics in Tuesday’s opener but brilliantly recovered with a resounding victory against the Indiana Pacers in the first game of the 2024-25 schedule at Madison Square Garden Friday. Indiana, of course, ended the Knicks’ last playoff run last spring.

Thibodeau praised the overall effort of Friday’s game, which saw the Knicks lead by as many as 33, allow just three from beyond the arc and win the rebounding battle by 10.

“There were several stretches where I thought our defense was really united,” Thibodeau said. “I thought OG (Anunoby) was really disruptive, his activity was exploding. I thought Josh (Hart)’s overall play was huge for us. Jalen (Brunson) Jalen and the guys on the bench are good, too.”

The Knicks now face the Cavs, one of four perfect teams remaining on the current roster. Like the Knicks, Cleveland (3-0) is looking to get past the conference semi-finals. They are ready to fight with Donovan Mitchell, recurring Knicks target on their side in the long term, as the Westchester County native signed a contract extension that should keep him in Cleveland until at least 2028.

The first two years of Cleveland’s Mitchell era were defined by disappointment: the Cavs lost an opening set to the Knicks in 2023 before losing to the Celtics in an uncompetitive semifinal.

Thibodeau, however, refuses to underestimate Cleveland’s multiple strengths.

“Any team when you have Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, it’s very dynamic,” Thibodeau said, according to Sears. “You talk about Jarrett Allen and (Evan) Mobley up front and then they adjust and they got (Dean) Wade, they got (Georges) Niang, they got guys. (Sam) Merrill, who can spread the floor and shoot threes.”

“So it’s a team that is very powerful offensively,” continued the coach. “They can play fast, they can knock down dribbles and bigs on the boards, that’s on your mind and so you have to be strong in every area. You have to finish your defense, you have to finish your offense against them. (They) block the shots – they’re a very good team.

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