CLEVELAND — On the bright side, the Knicks took the resurgent Cavaliers down to the wire.
On the dim side, it was another wildly erratic night for Julius Randle, who was outplayed by Cavaliers veteran Kevin Love and rookie Evan Mobley.
In failing a big test in Northeast Ohio against the resurgent Cavaliers, the Knicks fell apart in the third quarter, rallied big in the fourth behind RJ Barrett but dropped a 95-93 decision Monday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Barrett, after a slow start, came on in the fourth quarter but missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left.
“I didn’t think we got what we wanted,’’ Tom Thibodeau said of Barrett’s miss. “We wanted to attack in the open floor. He had been going downhill pretty good. I thought it would have been a good opportunity for him. We might have settled for that.’’
Barrett finished with 24 points after a big fourth quarter but couldn’t close out the…