Cavs blow out Knicks by 37 points in matchup of 2 of East's best - ESPN

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 its 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.

Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson, when asked, said he didn't view it as a statement win, however.

«No, no, no. I think we played well, I thought we were focused, but I wouldn't call it a statement win,» Atkinson said. «They're obviously a really good team, we were at home, but I think we got good feedback on what could work if you play this team in the playoffs. That's probably the most important thing.»

The 37-point loss was the Knicks' largest under coach Tom Thibodeau and tied for the third largest in Thibodeau's head coaching career.

«Right from the start,» Thibodeau said of where things went wrong. «We had the first couple minutes where… we're up, I think five, and then missed a couple of lobs and then if you jog back, there's going to be a problem. And then we got hit quick and didn't protect the basket, and they got a lot of confidence early from that and then it snowballed from there.»

Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 for the Knicks, who beat Chicago in overtime Thursday in their first game back from the All-Star break.

New York (37-19) couldn't use a back-to-back set as an excuse as the Cavs won in Brooklyn a night earlier. Friday marked Cleveland's second-largest win this