NEW YORK (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a three-game skid with a 95-89 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Caris LeVert scored 19 and Eric Mobley added 14 for Cleveland, which was again missing starters Darius Garland (strained hamstring), center Jarrett Allen (ankle bone bruise), and backup guard Ty Jerome (sprained ankle) with injuries.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 24 points. Immanuel Quickley scored 18, Donte DiVincenzo had 16 and Mitchell Robinson finished with 16 rebounds.
New York was without RJ Barrett, who sat with a sore left knee. Julius Randle’s offense was also missing, as he finished with six points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field and 0-for-6 sniping from long distance.
“Their defense was tough. It was a defensive game,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We needed more easy baskets and we didn’t get those. You gotta find a way to win. That is the bottom line.”
The Knicks led 50-49 at halftime before the Cavaliers opened the third quarter with a 13-5 run and never relinquished the lead. Cleveland took an eight-point lead at 69-61 on Dean Wade’s 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Knicks were held to 13 points in the period and the Cavaliers carried a 71-63 lead into the fourth.
“We haven’t been defending the way we are capable of defending so far this year,” Cavaliers’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We challenge our guys to go out and defend and play Cavaliers basketball. That’s what I’m proud of. We showed our true grit.”
Wade hit another 3-pointer that gave Cleveland its biggest lead of the game at 77-68 with 9:10 remaining.
The Knicks closed within two points, 79-77, on Robinson’s free throw with 2:48 remaining. But Mitchell followed with a 3-pointer and a floater on the Cavalier’s next two possessions.
“I just needed to make a damn shot. I work for the moments like that,” Mitchell said. “I was a little tired, but my teammates count on me when it matters most. Sometimes you just gotta go out there and find a way to win. That’s what I pride myself on.”
The Knicks, who were held to 34.8% shooting (32 of 92) from the field and 16.7% (5 of 30) from 3-point range, never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Cavaliers scored the first five points of the game and the Knicks scored the next nine.
Mitchell had 13 points in the opening quarter, but the rest of the team scored only 11 as Cleveland led 24-22 after the first.
The Knicks took their biggest lead of the first half, 33-28, on Josh Hart’s basket with 9:21 remaining in the second quarter. Hart finished with 11 points.
“That’s who number 45 is,” Bickerstaff said of Mitchell. “He can create at the end of games. He has the courage to take big shots and make big shots. When you have a lead and you have 45 on your team, you always have a chance to win it.”
