No two teams embark on the same exact path during the marathon, also known as the NBA regular season. But about three weeks into the campaign, last season's Eastern Conference Finals teams have taken an unexpected course. The Knicks started off their defense of the championships with three losses, highlighted by a disappointing loss on their home court on ring night.

But they've since been aided by a lighter schedule and have righted the ship.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, started off with a loss to the aforementioned 76ers, but followed it up by taking care of business against the Nets, Wizards, and Bucks, sandwiching a solid win against the Timberwolves. Since then, though, they've succumbed to some of the same turbulence the Knicks experienced not too long ago. They've lost to the Hawks, the Thunder twice, the Knicks, and now the Hornets, giving them four losses in their last five games, and six in their last eight.

Tonight, the two teams meet up once again trending in opposite directions. Will the Knicks come out on top? And who'll lead the Knicks' efforts to do so?

Top scorer for Knicks: Jalen Brunson

Karl-Anthony Towns picked apart the Cavaliers with relative ease when these two teams met last Saturday. The big man, who was in the midst of a dominant stretch until last night's off game against the Bucks, scored 29 points on 21 shots in Cleveland. There really wasn't much that the Cavaliers could do. While Towns should be in for another nice night against them tonight, the Cavaliers will have Jarrett Allen back and should be better equipped overall to deal with the center's size and physicality.

The same cannot be said about the Cavaliers' plans of stopping, or even slowing down, Brunson.
The reigning Finals MVP is quickly making fans forget about his slow start, as he's been back to his usual self for quite a while now. And even with a very slow start in the first quarter on Saturday, the captain finished the game with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting. He should have another big game tonight after getting some ample rest in last night's blowout win over the Bucks.

Top assister: Jalen Brunson

The Knicks point guard was able to masterfully use his second-quarter scoring barrage to absorb pressure and get his teammates open looks as the game proceeded. I not only expect him to have another big scoring game tonight, but I fully expect him to match his playmaking prowess from last week too. It's also plausible that after Brunson torched them in the postseason and picked them apart just days ago, Kenny Atkinson finally sees enough and forces others to beat them. If that ends up being the case, Brunson has shown that he's capable of taking on double teams and hard hedges and dishing it out to his teammates.

Top rebounder: Karl-Anthony Towns

After grabbing 16 rebounds in just 27 minutes against the Bucks, Towns now leads the league in rebounds per game and defensive rebounds per game with 13.8 rpg and 10.5 drpg much success keeping the Towns off the boards consistently. And I don't expect a Cavaliers team that, despite starting two big men, has at times had rebounding problems, to be able to stop Towns either.

Final score prediction: Knicks 108, Cavaliers 95

The Knicks got 60 combined points from Brunson and Towns in Cleveland, and while those two should have favorable matchups, I don't know if they can fully repeat that performance. That being said, I don't expect Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby to both go 4-for-13 from the field either. And while I also have a hard time believing Evan Mobley and James Harden combine for just 19 points on 7-for-20 shooting, Donovan Mitchell likely won't score 37 points on 22 shots either.

With both stars likely coming back down to earth and both supporting casts likely playing a bit better, I think the advantage still goes to the Knicks. The Cavaliers lack of depth was on full display on Saturday and the Knicks, and the home/away records of the two teams also favor the Knicks. New York wins its fifth straight to improve to 7-4 and hand the Cavaliers their seventh loss of the season.