Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns dominate as Knicks roll past Cavaliers again
CLEVELAND — It felt like early November on the streets of Northeast Ohio.Inside Rocket Arena, it looked like late May.Jalen Brunson was untouchable.
Karl-Anthony Towns was unstoppable.Analytics were unnecessary.
The eye test was enough for anyone to determine the best team on the floor.The Knicks extended their dominance over the Cavaliers in their first meeting since their Eastern Conference finals sweep, earning their first three-game winning streak of the season with a 109-97 win Saturday night.After becoming the first reigning champion in 15 years to drop its first three games of the season, the Knicks are now over .500 for the first time this season, having won five of their past six games.The Knicks (5-4) return home to face the Bucks on Tuesday, followed by another meeting with the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden the next day.Brunson initially struggled in his return to the floor where the Knicks clinched their first NBA Finals berth in 27 years, but eventually resembled the Finals MVP, finishing with 31 points (12-for-25 shooting, including 3-for-7 on 3-pointers), nine assists and six rebounds.
Towns had 29 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.The Cavaliers (5-5), coming off an impressive 119-95 win over LeBron James’ 76ers the previous night, ended their back-to-back home set looking as far from contention as the team that lost the final three games of the conference finals by a combined 66 points.Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 37 points.Despite coming off a blowout win against the Bulls that doubled as their most impressive performance of the season, the Knicks fell behind early, adding another slow start to their collection this season.The foul-prone Towns was whistled on a call 22 seconds into the game, but he remained aggressive, scoring seven of the team’s first 11 points.
While Brunson struggled to sink a series of clean looks, Towns overpowered the Cavs frontline, including an emphatic windmill slam for a 3-point play.The Knicks big ...