There was a lot to take away from the Cavs battle with the Knicks on Saturday night. It did not look quite like the ECF, but it still wasn’t great. The same problems that plagued them last time did, in fact, come back to bite them again.

It’s like it was May all over again.

Donovan Mitchell seemed to find his rhythm, but nobody else was joining him. With three minutes left, he had 34 points, and nobody else had more than 12. He finished with 37. Evan Mobley had 12. That’s it.

SPIDA FROM LONG RANGE AND-1! 😤

Donovan Mitchell drains the triple through contact to complete the four-point play! pic.twitter.com/Dvm3QjAfbd

— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 8, 2026

Here are my three main takeaways from the team’s game.

1) Cleveland Has A James Harden Problem

There aren’t many nice things to say about James Harden right now. He’s had a negative net rating of -10 or worse three times now. He was a -15 tonight, meaning they were three points better with him on the bench. Two baskets, five assists. That’s it, for a ball-dominant player in 34 minutes of action.

The fact that he has not been benched a single time is a bit alarming. Kenny Atkinson has done some great things since joining the Cavs, but it hasn’t been going well of late. All the recent comments seem to indicate he’ll be around for the season at the least, but patience may well be wearing thin.

Harden has to be held accountable and responsible on his off-days, which are coming more frequently now, and that just has not been the case.

2) The Cavs Have A Depth Issue

It’s worth noting that the Cavs were extremely short-handed tonight. No Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, or Jarrett Allen. Nae’Qwan Tomlin has remained out with back issues. Plus, Ernest Udeh Jr. and Khalifa Diop are yet to be made available for a contest. But the sum of the parts tonight was not good enough.

Tyrese Proctor had been showing good signs, but finished with a -16 net rating. Craig Porter Jr. still does not have a single meaningful play through nine games. Thomas Bryant struggled to hold his own after a solid night.

Even Mario Hezonja came back to earth, not scoring a single point in 19 minutes of action. As James Harden struggles out of the first five, there’s nobody else to play.

Hopefully some of the injured players do return soon to help out, but as it is now, this is a mega issue. Cleveland cannot beat top teams with what they have out there, given what they are.

3) Same Old Cavs

I would love to be positive right now. At the end of the day, this was still just one single contest. But there have been three ball games this week where last year’s problems rose to the forefront and became this year’s issues again.

The lack of effort on the glass led to second-chance points for the Knicks. A lack of defensive effort from James Harden led to him being targeted. No players were benched, and there were no rotation changes when things weren’t working under Kenny Atkinson.

It was hard to be confident in a Cleveland comeback when they haven’t been making the adjustments in-game. All the right things get said after the 48 minutes are done, but what about during it?

This was a game for forget for the Cavs, who will see the Knicks again on Wednesday at MSG.