CLEVELAND — The deeper and tougher Knicks had little trouble overpowering and vanquishing the Cavaliers in the end, even with negligible contributions for most of the first round from their lone All-Star.
One game after Julius Randle had been benched for the entire fourth quarter of Sunday’s win at Madison Square Garden, he re-injured his left ankle late in the second quarter and didn’t play in the second half.
And Tom Thibodeau’s gritty squad absorbed every punch once more and prevailed yet again.
Jalen Brunson finished with a team-high 23 points and Obi Toppin filled in ably for Randle in the second half as the Knicks dispatched the Cavs in five games, finishing them off without their leading scorer for the final two quarters of a series-sealing 106-95 victory Wednesday night at a silenced Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Thibodeau and the Knicks deservedly will make the franchise’s first trip to the second round of the playoffs since 2013 and only their second since 2000.
The next series possibly will start as soon as Sunday at the Garden, depending on the result of the first-round matchup between the No. 8 Heat and the top-seeded Bucks, who were facing elimination and a 3-1 hole later Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
RJ Barrett capped a strong final three games of the series with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Josh Hart started in place of Quentin Grimes again and registered 12 rebounds in 47 heartbeat minutes, including the entire second half.
Sixth Man runner-up Immanuel Quickley also snapped out of his series-long scoring slump with 19 points off the bench, and Toppin netted all of his 12 in the third quarter with Randle sidelined, contributing two 3-pointers and a couple of rim-rattling dunks.
Mitchell Robinson also completed a dominant series against overmatched Cleveland bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley with 13 points and 18 rebounds, including an astonishing 11 more on the offensive glass, plus two deflating put-back dunks late in the fourth quarter
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points for the Cavs, but the Westchester product was knocked out by his hometown team after the Knicks were unable to obtain him from the Jazz last summer.
Randle had 13 points before departing just before the end of the second quarter after reinjuring the sprained left ankle that had kept him out of the final five games of the regular season.
Thibodeau had replied “I do” when asked before the game if he expected Randle to bounce back from his fourth-quarter benching in Game 4, the conclusion to the Knicks’ leading scorer netting 18 combined points and shooting 6-for-25 from the floor in the two victories at Madison Square Garden.
Randle missed badly on his first 3-point try of the night, and clanked his first four shots overall before finally scoring on a pair of free throws about six minutes into the first quarter.
Brunson had his outside stroke going early, however, nailing two long-distance attempts and scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes for a 23-14 advantage
Mitchell, who’d assessed that he “played like s—t” in missing 13 of 18 from the floor in Game 4, missed his first three field-goal attempts before finishing the opening quarter with six points.
Randle did dish out five assists in the period and added three more free throws and a late inside bank shot for seven points as the Knicks carried a 33-26 advantage through one.
The Knicks upped the cushion to a dozen early in the second on Quickley’s second 3-pointer of the game and a couple of drives by Barrett. They led 55-39 after Robinson’s tip-in off his fifth offensive rebound of the half, a trey by Barrett and a twisting drive to the hoop by Randle.
The All-Star power forward’s strong half came to an abrupt end when his foot landed on Caris LeVert’s foot with 1:17 left before halftime, and he hobbled into the locker room before returning to the bench in street clothes in the second half.
The Knicks still led 61-51 at intermission, with Brunson scoring 17 points, while Barrett and Quickley contributed 11 apiece on a combined 9-for-13 from the floor.
Toppin knocked down a corner 3 to open the third and then put the Knicks back up by 13 with a crowd-silencing windmill slam in the open court off a headman feed from Hart. He scored 12 points in the quarter as the Knicks led 87-75 heading into the final period.
A driving bucket and a pull-up jumper by Darius Garland closed the gap to six with eight minutes to play, but Barrett and Quickley sank two free throws apiece to restore the lead to double digits. Hart’s lob pass found Robinson for another dunk and a 96-84 advantage with under five minutes remaining.