Final Score: Cavaliers 90, Knicks 87

Ahhhhhhhhhhh butts. I'm on the tank, but I really wanted that one. The Knicks hung right with the Cavaliers -- they actually led for much of the game -- but just couldn't make the plays down the stretch. Down 1, Derek Fisher jogged to mid-court to get a timeout, and drew up a nice little set to get Shane Larkin space in the middle of the floor:

Just an unfriendly roll, there, and maaaaaybe a missed opportunity to make a quick pass. Bad luck on the tip-ins, too

After Kyrie Irving -- the only Cav who played consistently well on offense -- arced in an absurd floater to put Cleveland up three, the Knicks reverted. Carmelo Anthony ran off the entire clock -- a bad idea -- then took a contested pull-up three:

Really disappointing, especially after he showed well he can serve the Knicks as a decoy before that.

It wasn't Melo's night at all. He wasn't forcing things until around the third quarter (when he started to realllly force things), but couldn't get anything to fall. Meanwhile, starting center Amar'e Stoudemire looked fantastic finishing (and even passing sometimes) out of the deep, deep post, and Tim Hardaway Jr. gave the bench a massive first-half boost with four threes early. Other little role player contributions -- Quincy Acy's accuracy from mid-range and maniacal dunkings, J.R. Smith's quiet 9 points, spurts of usefulness from Larkin and Pablo Prigioni -- did almost enough to counteract one of Melo's worst performances as a Knick, but...nope.

Could've secured that season series against the Cavs, and LeBron really tried to help that happen. Too bad. To DraftExpress we go.