The Cleveland Cavaliers were certainly riding very high as recently as Tuesday night. Coming off a seven-game series win against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons that put them into the Eastern Conference Finals after three straight years of falling short, the Cavaliers stormed out to a huge lead in Game 1 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Fast forward to this morning, and the Cavaliers are headed home down 2-0 in the series. It is a disheartening turn of events that could turn even the most optimistic fans into fatalists.
However, analyst Daryl Ruiter is making a big prediction about the Cavs after their latest loss to the Knicks, saying that Cleveland will win the next two games at Rocket Arena to even the series.
“I respect the Knicks, but they’re not the Oklahoma City Thunder, they don’t strike fear into me. I do think this series goes back to New York tied 2-2,” Ruiter said.
"I respect the Knicks, they are not the OKC Thunder, they don't strike fear in me… I do think this series goes back to New York tied 2-2."
📞@RuiterWrongFAN says this series is NOT over yet pic.twitter.com/N8ZrrBRZSB
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) May 22, 2026
The Cavaliers don’t have to look back very far at all to see that this can be done. Against the Pistons, the Cavs lost the first two games on the road and then won Games 3 and 4 at home. Cleveland also won Game 5 on the road, and after squandering Game 6 at home, went on the road to win Game 7.
Then, with just one day off, facing a well-rested Knicks team that had swept the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, the Cavs held a 22-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Cleveland was overwhelmed by New York from there and wound up losing by 11 points in overtime.
That would not normally generate the kind of optimism Ruiter is putting forth with Game 3 coming up on Saturday. However, after winning all four home games in the first round against the Toronto Raptors and taking two of three from Detroit, the Cavs are 6-1 at home this postseason. They also won five of their final six regular-season home games.
If the Cavs are going to win this series and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2018, they likely have to win these next two games, as they do not want to go back to New York facing the possibility of being eliminated in Game 5.
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