The Cavaliers were hacking Mitchell Robinson on purpose late in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, sending the Knicks center to the free throw line and daring New York to answer with a change. Cleveland led 77-63 with 3:02 left in the third quarter Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, and the foul tactic was becoming part of the story.
Donovan Mitchell drove the first-half momentum for Cleveland, finishing with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting and six steals as the Cavaliers controlled stretches of the game. He had 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting at halftime, and his four-point play late in the second quarter made it 42-41 Knicks before Cleveland closed the half with Max Strus and Donovan Mitchell 3-pointers to grab a 48-46 lead.
New York was still in reach at that point, but the numbers told the story of how the game was tilting. The Knicks were 2-for-19 from 3-point range in the first half, while Cleveland shot 36 percent from deep. Jalen Brunson had 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting at halftime, but the Knicks could not match the Cavaliers' surge after Cleveland went on an 8-0 run to make it 38-35 New York with 4:25 left in the first half.
The third quarter brought a key break for Cleveland when Jarrett Allen did not pick up his third personal foul early in the period after a Cavs challenge. Officials determined that Karl-Anthony Towns held Allen's arm, and Towns was called for his second foul instead. That decision mattered because it kept Allen on the floor as Cleveland pushed ahead 63-54 with 7:08 left in the third quarter.
The foul strategy against Robinson was the clearest sign that the Cavaliers are willing to force the Knicks into uncomfortable choices. If Robinson keeps being sent to the line, New York may have to decide whether to leave him in or alter its lineup and late-game rotations. That is the kind of adjustment a team makes only when a game is already asking hard questions.
Cleveland comes into this series with a recent memory it has not forgotten. The Cavaliers lost to the Knicks in the 2023 playoffs, a 4-1 first-round defeat that still hangs over the matchup. They reached this round by beating the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they are now trying to move one step closer to the NBA Finals.
The winner of this best-of-seven series will advance to play for the title against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs led that series 1-0. For the Knicks, the question is no longer just whether they can score enough to stay with Cleveland. It is whether they can stop the Cavaliers from turning Mitchell Robinson into a problem that changes the shape of the series.
