{"id":654973,"date":"2026-05-20T19:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654973\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T19:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:16:08","slug":"cavaliers-vs-knicks-game-2-ecf-predictions-odds-recent-stats-trends-best-bets-on-may-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654973\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavaliers vs Knicks \u2014 Game 2 ECF \u2014 predictions: Odds, recent stats, trends, best bets on May 21"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Knicks<\/a> erased a 22-point deficit in Game 1 and won in OT, 115-104. Jalen Brunson<\/a> put the Knicks on his back and scored 38 points in the game and 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter and OT.<\/p>\n

Cleveland<\/a> only had one day off and was at a major rest disadvantage entering Game 1, so the 11-point loss was a tough for the Cavaliers<\/a>. Cleveland shot 40% from the field, 32% from three, was out rebounded 47-38, and turned the ball over 21 times. Donovan Mitchell<\/a> was the only Cavalier to score more than 15 points as he dropped 29 and Evan Mobley<\/a> led the game with 14 rebounds, while James Harden<\/a> struggled with double the turnovers (6) compared to assists (3).<\/p>\n

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New York<\/a> won its eight-straight game and made one of the most historic comebacks of all time. Entering the fourth quarter, the Knicks were 4-of-23 from three (17.3%), and were out-played for three quarters. New York also left plenty at the free-throw line, going 21-of-32 (66%), but in the end, it didn’t matter as the Knicks pulled through. Brunson dropped a game-high 38 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> led the Knicks with 13 rebounds. Landry Shamet<\/a> was one of the heroes of Game 1 going a perfect 3-for-3 from deep and playing the final stretch in the fourth quarter and OT.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at tonight\u2019s matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings<\/a> recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.<\/p>\n

After 24 years, the NBA is back on NBC and Peacock, combining the nostalgia of an iconic era with the innovative future of basketball coverage. The NBA on NBC YouTube channel<\/a> delivers fans must-see highlights, analysis, and exclusive and unique content. <\/p>\n

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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Cavaliers vs. Knicks<\/p>\n

Date: Thursday, May 21, 2026<\/p>\n

Site: Madison Square Garden<\/p>\n

Rotoworld has you covered with all the latest NBA Player News <\/a>for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!<\/p>\n

Game Odds: Cavaliers vs. Knicks<\/p>\n

The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Moneyline: New York Knicks (-225), Cleveland Cavaliers (+185)<\/p>\n

This game opened Knicks -6.5 with the Total set at 216.5.<\/p>\n

Be sure to check out DraftKings<\/a> for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!<\/p>\n

Expected Starting Lineups: Cavaliers vs. KnicksCleveland Cavaliers<\/p>\n

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New York KnicksInjury Report: Knicks vs. CavaliersCleveland CavaliersNew York KnicksImportant stats, trends and insights: Cavaliers vs. Knicks<\/p>\n

New York is 52-42 ATS and an NBA-best 31-15 ATS as a home favorite<\/p>\n

New York is 50-44 to the Under and 24-22 at home<\/p>\n

New York is 24-22 to the Under at home and 16-16 to the Over as a home favorite<\/p>\n

Cleveland has the second worst ATS record at 39-57<\/p>\n

Cleveland is 10-8 ATS as a road underdog and 8-10 on the ML<\/p>\n

Cleveland is 28-21 to the Over on the road<\/p>\n

Cleveland is 48-49 to the Under on the season<\/p>\n

Rotoworld Best Bet<\/p>\n

Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.<\/p>\n

Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over\/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.<\/p>\n

Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.<\/p>\n

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Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday\u2019s Cavaliers and Knicks\u2019 game:<\/p>\n

Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Knicks\u2019 Moneyline<\/p>\n

Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Knicks -6.5 ATS<\/p>\n

Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total UNDER 215.5<\/p>\n

Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page<\/a> from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over\/under picks for every game on today\u2019s calendar!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool<\/a> on NBC Sports!<\/p>\n

Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:<\/p>\n

Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)<\/p>\n

Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)<\/p>\n

Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)<\/p>\n

Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Knicks erased a 22-point deficit in Game 1 and won in OT, 115-104. Jalen Brunson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[52468,852,27496,13054,51299,36783,6418,27495,61628,36782,25171,36784,355,2005,361,19560,99],"class_list":["post-654973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-cavaliers","tag-cleveland","tag-dean-wade","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-evan-mobley","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-james-harden","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-josh-hart","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-landry-shamet","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-og-anunoby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}