Knicks UNLEASHED

Knicks Begin Their 2025 Championship Mission vs. Cleveland. THE PREVIEW

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The Garden lights are back on and the stakes feel bigger than the banners. We’re rolling into Knicks vs Cavaliers with a clear plan: push a faster, cleaner motion offense, keep the ball moving, and make the glass our advantage while Cleveland looks to set pace and punish lapses. The memories of last spring’s weird bounces are still there, but we’re focused on the choices that travel—rebounding, transition discipline, and smarter reads when the first action stalls.

We break down the swing matchups that shape opening night. Donovan Mitchell’s shot creation demands layered coverage and better point-of-attack resistance; hold him near 20 without fouling and the math changes. Darius Garland’s toe updates add intrigue—if he plays, the Cavs’ pick-and-roll engine revs up, and we’ll need to limit early-clock looks. Inside, the Towns-versus-Mobley-and-Allen battle is a chess match. If Towns screens, pops, and makes quick decisions, he stretches Cleveland thin; if he seals and punishes switches, second-chance points stack up fast. We also talk through health notes for Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Carl Anthony Towns, and Mitchell Robinson, because availability might be the quiet decider in week one.

Depth is our wild card. Miles McBride’s edge at the point of attack, Jordan Clarkson’s instant offense, and Gershon’s energy can flip the second unit from liability to weapon. The big question: who orchestrates when Jalen Brunson sits? Hart can steady, Bridges can connect, and a true backup facilitator has to keep tempo without bleeding possessions. Our keys are simple and sharp: control boards, protect the rim, limit Cavs transition, force half-court execution, and trust the motion to create cleaner shots than last year’s stop-and-start iso.

If you’re feeling the buzz for a real run, you’re not alone. Hit play, ride along for the opener blueprint, and tell us your X-factor for Knicks vs Cavs. Subscribe, share with a fellow fan, and drop a review so more New Yorkers find the show.

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SPEAKER_01:

It's only been a few short months. It seems like an eternity. This is Tim. This is New York Knicks Unleashed bringing you back time to get ready for the Cavaliers versus the Knicks at MSG, of course, Wednesday, October 22nd, kicking off the season, which is in a day. Oh, I just can't wait. The way the season ended um last year, you you you I'm not gonna say you left it with a sour taste in your mouth, but it was one of those series against Indiana that so many things early on in the series kind of was just so wacky. I could still see the ball bouncing off the back of the rim, going up 4,978 feet and dropping straight in. I think that image will be burned into my head. But now we are kicking off the 2025-26 season. We are getting ready. We're gonna talk Knicks calves here. We're gonna do a little preview of the game. We're gonna do we should do a little bit of news right off the bat because uh we the the Cavaliers, to the Knicks' detriment, I think, uh got some uh positive news on Darius Garland. He's been out with the toe injury. They they haven't said when he was gonna make his season debut, but the two-time All-Star, he did participate in most of the practices on Monday, which seems to be a step in the right direction. He suffered a toe injury at the end of last season. Um, then I think he uh well, yeah, he re-aggravated back in the first round of the playoffs against the Heat. He rushed back, if everyone remembers, for game three, but he wasn't anything special. He he wasn't anything ready. So it took him about, he had the surgery pair of toe. He's he was given about a four to five month timeline and reference to come back to do to absume uh to uh you know to resume basketball activities, but most figure he was going to miss the start of the regular season and start sometime maybe in November. I I'm I'm not saying that he's playing on Wednesday. I am just saying Garland, who averaged 20.6 points, 6.7 assists last year, was was solely missed in that series for the Cavaliers, where they missed his scoring efficiency and his in his playmaking ability. So we gotta kind of have our fingers crossed a little bit that he is going to stay on the bench and not make any appearance in this series. This is one of these games that these are two teams that I'm not gonna say mirror each other, but they're they're two teams that are kind of on the same trajectory, on the same collision course, and have the same type of championship window. Cavaliers, of course, last year averaged 21.9 points per game, which is one of the best in reference to scoring, of course, because 21.21.9 points. I mean, that's that's pretty that's pretty fucking phenomenal if you ask, you know, if you ask me. The Knicks weren't too far behind, if you remember last year. Uh, I can't even think what I'm I'm trying to remember off the top of my head what the Knicks were, but they were 115, they're 115.8 in reference to scoring, which again, they had this, they had this this offense in New York last year under Thibodeau. We've talked about it briefly, where I like to refer to it as the breakdown offense, where you go into that classic half-court ISO, and it was like you you you kick the ball into Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns, and sometimes it's where balls go to die. That's what she said. Sorry, I just had to. I just had to, but we need to take a look at this game a little bit more in depth. Right now, I think the Knicks' strength, of course, is gonna be the continuation of their star power with Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, Bridges, OG Ananobi, and Josh Hart. Uh, Bridges, of course, signed an extension back in August 2025, so he's gonna be here a while. He's an integral part to this team. As much as certain people want to get on his ass, Bridges is one of those guys that never leaves the court like Josh Hart. And then you look at his stat line, you go, boy, he really sucked. But then you're like, well, he also played 48 minutes and he also did all these other things. This offseason, there's been an emphasis on depth. And I think in my mind, with the Mike Brown system, you know, basically increasing the pace of the offense, create more motion in the offense. We've talked about this before. There's there's really, I mean, Mike Brown said there's really no set game plan, no set plays. They just want to see crisp passing, they want to see fluidity, they want to see where everyone's getting the opportunity. And I love the one Mike Brown said, I don't want anyone standing around. If you don't have the ball, you need to be in motion. And that's why I said this is gonna be a motion, hopefully, it's gonna be a motion style offense, kind of predicated on Golden State from those championship days when Mike Brown was an assistant. So we're gonna kind of have to see where we where we end up. And going against the Cavaliers is is really it's gonna be, I'm not gonna say Herculean task, but this is a test right off the bat. You got the core four, of course, and Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, which we'll have to see what happens with Darius, Evan Mobley, and Jared Allen. Highly efficient offensively all of last year's. I personally think they were probably the best. We talked about it, the best offense in basketball last year. And the thing is with them, they're gaining more continuity, they're gaining more experience. It's the health of the team, kind of like the Knicks at times, which has been a big issue with Cleveland. Like I said, that Garland injury was devastating. And and you have to hope, like I said, his readiness is not available. Defensively, neither one of these teams at times are stalworth. Knicks are better defensively in my mind than Cleveland. I oh I I I go back to uh I go back to to Jalen Brunson's days in those playoff series against Donovan Mitchell when they both put up 40. And I like to refer to it as the Olay game because it was Olay. No one seemed to want to stop the other opponent, no one seemed to want to play defense, but I do think that the Knicks are well above well of a step above uh the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the problem is the way they run their offense, the way they run the motion, the way they run the basically run in gun at times of Cleveland, you are gonna have to make sure you are strong enough to dilly and not dilly-dally up the court. You're gonna have to get there. You're gonna have to get there quickly. They will evolve offensively and go beyond the pick and roll, and they're gonna leverage their full talents in regards to that. So the Knicks are gonna need to be where you know a little bit wary with that. And you take a look at it. Donovan Mitchell is the prime scorer, he's the leader. How the Knicks defend him, to in my mind, is going to be the major focus because of the fact that I think if you can stop and slow down Donovan Mitchell, if you can contain, not contain him, but you can keep him within 15 to 20 points, you got a good shot at winning the game. Evan Mobley, of course, is the big Ford. I I think he's growing both defensively and offensively. He's learning how to stretch the floor. He's creating, he's helping create mismatches for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jared Allen, Jared Allen's the rebounder. We've talked about it before. He's the he's the interior rim protector. He he basically anchors the backcourt. Uh, I don't know if DeAndre Hunter was at. I don't know if he's gonna be able to, I don't think if he's going to. I'm not sure if he's in. I don't know. I haven't checked the injury report on him lately, but I have to kind of wait and see. It's gonna be an interesting matchup again between Brunson and Garland. You basically have the two quarterbacks running the show. Brunson, of course, has the ability to generate his own shot, same with Garland. Garland, and like I said, Garland if he plays, and again, it's again if Garland plays, you know, he is he he uses his speed, he uses his ability to create the uh pick and roll. But like I said, I don't know if Garland, I don't know if Garland's gonna be out there. I think the the one of the other issues we're gonna have to look at in reference to the Knicks is gonna be Towns versus Mobley and Allen. Mobley and Allen have the size and the versatility and versatile versatility. Sorry, I can't speak today. Towns seems, he, I mean, to me, Towns is going to need to exploit this as a mismatch. You're gonna have to see the big bodega actually putting up some points, actually crashing the boards, actually, you know. I think in my mind, if you're gonna facilitate the offense and you're gonna go more with this running motion style offense, you are gonna have to use Carl Anthony Towns as an integral part to this. Is he ready for that? I think he is. He's I've we've seen him be we've seen him be the stalworth offensively. He's just gonna have to continue to be that way. I think right now with the Knicks, though, we're gonna have to worry about health a little bit. Uh Josh Hart, of course, had was nursing the back injury. OG on OG Ananobi was um was listed day to day as well, and so was Carl Anthony Towns. Um, so we're gonna have to kind of wait and see. Mitchell Robinson, they look they looked that looked like I have Mitchell on load management. He was listed on the injury report as well, so we have to see what Mitchie the Kid's gonna do. It's gonna be interesting because, like I said, the Knicks bench uh is is in my mind is totally different from last year. It's gonna be one of those things with Miles McBride. I love Jordan Clarkson. I literally love to watch him play. I was at every Knicks preseason game at home and watching the energy and scoring ability and and just he has this prowess about him. He is going to be the integral part to that second unit. Same with Gershon the dancing bear. I love Gershawn. Gershawn is a guy that I watch play in Philadelphia extensively. He's gonna give us so much, he is he is to me, he's gonna give you so much energy, he's gonna give you so much attitude, he's gonna do a little bit of everything, a little bit well. Nothing great, but it's always good, it's always gonna be something. And then we got Landry. I mean, you of course you got McBride, you got Mitchell Robinson coming off the bench if he's healthy. You also got the Shamut, you got Landry coming off the bench. Tyler, Tyler to me is gonna have to be that backup point guard. I don't think Mike Brown is in love with him, but he is probably the best passer on the team. I'm curious to see how Mike Brown facilitates with the point guard when Brunson is out. There was talk that if Josh Hart was healthy, he was gonna maybe use Josh Hart as a facilitator. I can see that, and I can see it's doing the same thing with Bridges, but not for an extended period of time. But like I said, if it's me, I would probably use Bridges more because he's more of that uh, you know, Bridges is is that is is is is that I'm not gonna say more complete two-way player than Josh Hart. I think he can do a little bit more. You know, he he's you know, he has again that perimeter defense, he's good at uh spot up shooting. Um, he doesn't have to have the ball to create his own shot. He can he can he can move in motion. So um it's it's difficult to say, but like I said, right now also with Josh Hart, he is a question mark. We have to see what the back does. But Josh Hart is that defensive glue, he's that rebounder, and he is a creator as well. But like I said, we have to wait and see what the injuries dictate. Keys to the next win. Getting these guys out here helping, getting the starters on the court. That would be a huge key. Control the boards, protect the rim, especially if Robinson's in there. Get the offensive rebounds, get your second chance shots, limit the Cavaliers in transition, force the Cavaliers out of their comfort zone. You're not gonna do it completely, but make them execute in a half-court set. Get the depth to contribute, get your bench to contribute. The problem with the Knicks last year at times is the bench is where points went to die. And you have a bench this year, but you need contributors on that bunch bench, because to me, the starters cannot carry the load all season long like they have. But I think, like I said, I I I like between Gershon, between Mitchell Robinson, between Clarkson, I would have like I said Malcolm Brogdon retired. There, there was something off about Malcolm when I watched him play, and we talked about it in the last pod. There was something off with him. I didn't think he was gonna retire, but I did think he, you know, he he he created a hole when he left in reference to that second facilitator. So we're gonna have to wait and see. Keys to the Cavaliers winning, which we know we always hate to talk about, but we're gonna talk about it anyways. They're gonna get hopefully they want to get into an offensive flow early, push the tempo, and then make the basically make the Knicks adjust. They're gonna try to exploit any mismatches they possibly can, especially with the Knicks learning a new system. Their key is going to have to be to stay disciplined defensively versus Brunson, which is a Herculine task in itself. And once again, I think the biggest issue, like the Knicks, the bench must provide stable production, or the starters are just gonna wear themselves out. Is this a big test for the Knicks right off the bat? This really is. This is going to show the Knicks. First of all, it it's it's it's rough as it is for the Knicks because of the fact that they're gonna have to, they're running a new system, they got a new head coach, they have a lot of the same. I mean, they have basically the same players. Uh, you have a new bench, you're gonna be using that bench more, but this is gonna be something interesting to watch with these Knicks, how they flow together, who is gonna be that second facilitator. Um, and if health is is gonna have to be a key right now between you know Hart Towns and OG Ananobi. I'm excited for the season. Are we gonna be at the home opener? Yeah, fuck yeah. We're gonna be there like we always are. We're gonna try to make out, we're not gonna be able to make uh we're not gonna be able to make 81 games this year, but we're gonna try to be out there for at least 25-30 games, bringing you everything that we can in reference to Knicks. Uh, we're gonna have a fun season because, like I said before, I think if the Knicks are gonna make the playoffs and make a run for the ship, this is gonna be the year. You gotta, you got, you gotta move forward to the championship this year. Anything else to me is a lost season, and I think we got the chops to do it. Don't forget, this is gonna be a bi weekly to try weekly podcast. So make sure you stay tuned for that. And as always, this is Tim. This is Nick's Unleashed, and we're out of here.