Cavs blow out Knicks by 37 points in matchup of 2 of East’s best
CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, Evan Mobley added 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers bullied the New York Knicks from the start Friday night, winning 142-105 in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.
Only the Cavs looked elite, winning their sixth straight and improving the NBA’s best record to 46-10. Cleveland has won 14 games by 20-plus points, matching their most in a season in franchise history. The Cavs also topped 140 points for the fourth time in 2024-25, their most in franchise history.
The 37-point loss was the Knicks’ largest under coach Tom Thibodeau, and tied the third largest in Thibodeau’s entire head-coaching career.
Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and Karl-Anthony Towns 23 for the Knicks, who beat Chicago in overtime on Thursday in their first game back from the All-Star break.
New York couldn’t use a back-to-back as any excuse as the Cavs won in Brooklyn a night earlier. Friday was Cleveland’s second-largest win this season, after beating the Dallas Mavericks by 43 points on Feb. 2.
Cleveland got a scare in the first half when All-Star guard Darius Garland hit his head on the floor while taking an awkward fall. Garland, who missed significant time last season with a broken jaw, stayed in the game.
The Cavs played most of the second half without center Jarrett Allen, who injured his right hand. X-rays were negative.
New York was without versatile swingman Josh Hart, who missed his second straight game with a sore right knee. But the Knicks saw the return of OG Anunoby, who played for the first time since Feb. 1 after dealing with a toe injury.
Anunoby played 27 minutes, finishing with 5 points, 1 steal and 2 turnovers. He is one of three players with 100 3-pointers, 60 steals and 40 blocks this season.
Mitchell went on a tear late in the first half, dropping 3-pointers in final 1:43 as Cleveland opened a 27-point halftime lead. Mitchell loves facing the Knicks: He came in averaging 30.7 points. 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his previous nine regular-season games against them.
The same cannot be said for the Knicks, who are 0-6 this season against the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder (the only teams with better records than New York).
It’s a big weekend for both teams as the Knicks are in Boston on Sunday. The Cavs host the top-scoring Memphis Grizzlies that night.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: espn.com