NBA Game Preview - New York at Cleveland

Mon Feb 3, 2020 7:00 PM EST

The New York Knicks tossed a wrinkle into the Eastern Conference playoff race Saturday by upsetting the Indiana Pacers.

And on Monday night, the Knicks will hope to build on the momentum and create a rare winning streak when they visit a fellow lottery-bound club, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the final game of the season between the teams.

The Knicks climbed out of a three-way tie for the Eastern Conference basement on Saturday by racing out to a 17-point lead and surviving a second-half surge by the host Pacers in a 92-85 win. New York wriggled free of the Cavaliers, who remained at the bottom of the conference Saturday as they continued skidding with a 131-112 loss to the visiting Golden State Warriors.

Any win for the Knicks -- they're 4-12 in their past 16 games -- is a much-needed one, but the victory Saturday was particularly timely. New York played Saturday for the first time since Wednesday's embarrassing 127-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in which guard Elfrid Payton earned a one-game suspension for nearly starting a brawl after he shoved the Grizzlies' Jae Crowder for stealing an in-bounds pass and lofting a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Things got worse afterward for the Knicks when Marcus Morris Sr. described Crowder as "woman-like" and said he plays with "a lot of female tendencies."

The forward apologized multiple times before stepping onto the court Saturday, when he scored a game-high 28 points while leading the Knicks to one of their most impressive efforts of the season. New York allowed its second-fewest points of the season and held the Pacers to 11 points in the first quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter.

"We defended really well against a really good team," Morris said afterward. "I came in locked in and wanted to get a win. We all played well. It's a good win for us."

The Cavaliers, who remain tied for the worst record in the East with the Atlanta Hawks, are in desperate need of a feel-good night after losing for the 10th time in 11 games Saturday.

Cleveland has lost seven of those games by double figures and has fallen to a sub-.500 team six times, including Saturday, when the Cavaliers trailed 61-59 at the half before being outscored 44-19 in the third quarter by the NBA-worst Warriors.

"I don't have a lot of answers for you, though, I really don't," first-year Cavaliers head coach John Beilein said. "It's all together, the offense and the defense."

The Cavaliers are 13-37, which means Beilein has experienced defeat almost as much this season as his final four years combined coaching at Michigan, when he steered the Wolverines to a 112-40 record before jumping to the NBA.

"Every loss is hitting me really hard," Beilein said. "It's just trying to find solutions and trying to find a better way to get our guys to play harder and smarter, which will lead to wins."

The Knicks have won two of three games against the Cavaliers on the season.

--Field Level Media