Knicks’ comeback shrivels in Cleveland as offense fades down stretch

A spirited comeback finished with the Knicks folding in the final minutes, with Julius Randle captaining his team’s late-game plunge.

After recovering from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the score in Cleveland, the Knicks managed just two points in the final 2 minutes and 30 seconds, missing all four of their field goal attempts and two potential game-winners in Monday’s 95-93 defeat.

Randle airballed the buzzer-beater, but that wasn’t his fault. He received the inbounds with 1.7 seconds left and was forced into a turnaround fadeaway from 40 feet away, with coach Tom Thibodeau saying that the Cavaliers took away the first option.

“They did a good job taking the corner away,” Thibodeau said of the inbounds pass. “There are three options on that play, and Julius ended up with a tough shot there.”

Still, the poor shot was indicative of the failures from the Knicks down the stretch. They settled for long attempts and bad options.

The biggest miss came from RJ Barrett, who had a decent look at a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining but hung it left from the top of the key. Barrett had otherwise been productive and finished with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, but Thibodeau suggested the 21-year-old would’ve been better served attacking the rim with a one-point deficit.

“In those situations, when you drive the ball, good things happen,” Thibodeau said.

Barrett was happy with his decision.

“That was a good shot. I’ll take that shot 100% of the time,” said Barrett, who expressed frustration with missing half of his 10 free throws.

About a minute earlier, Immanuel Quickley inexplicably launched a 35-footer that hit the front rim. Quickley’s miss followed a Randle midrange jumper that bounced over the backboard.

Randle, overall, was an inefficient mess while committing four turnovers and missing 11 of his 17 shots. The Knicks (23-25) were outscored by 22 points in the power forward’s 33 minutes.

Still, the team — especially the reserves — displayed enough grit and fight to recover from a daunting fourth-quarter deficit on the second game of a back-to-back.

“You got to find a way to win,” Thibodeau said. “I didn’t like our transition defense in the first half. And then I thought we fought. I thought our bench gave us a lift.”

Ultimately, however, the Knicks were burned by a throwback game from Kevin Love (20 points, 11 rebounds) and a clutch trey from Darius Garland following a Cavaliers offensive rebound.

“There’s a fine line between winning and losing,” Thibodeau said. “In the fourth quarter, you got to come up with those loose balls.”

Kemba Walker, who returned to New York’s lineup after resting Sunday afternoon’s victory over the Clippers, played just 20 minutes and sat the entire fourth quarter. Evan Fournier was also benched for the final period because his substitute, Quentin Grimes, was a comeback catalyst.

Center Mitchell Robinson was ruled out with a sore ankle, leaving Nerlens Noel (29 minutes, two points, 13 rebounds) with a larger role.

The Cavaliers (29-19) have been a revelation this season despite a season-ending injuries to Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio. They entered Monday just two games out of first in the East, riding strong seasons from Garland, Jarrett Allen and Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley.

For the Knicks, the game kicked off a three-game road trip against top-5 teams in the East — Cleveland, Miami and Milwaukee. It was also the start of a 16-game stretch with 12 opponents currently above .500.