CLEVELAND: Kevin Love scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and forward LeBron James added 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the Cavaliers’ 91-84 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Knicks were playing without Carmelo Anthony and still nearly pulled off the upset thanks to 23 points and 13 rebounds from rookie Kristaps Porzingis.
The Knicks rallied from 11 behind to take their first lead on a tip-in from Lou Amundson with 11:08 to play, but they went scoreless for 3½ minutes late in the game and Porzingis was shut out in the fourth.
Kyrie Irving had five points and four assists on 1-of-7 shooting in 20 minutes. It was his second game back from a fractured kneecap, but Irving is clearly still rusty. He is shooting 6-of-19 since returning and sat the final five minutes after reaching his minutes allotment.
The Knicks sat Anthony because of a sprained right ankle and coach Derek Fisher mentioned the upcoming schedule as part of the reason. Anthony participated in Wednesday’s morning shootaround, but with three games in four nights following Christmas, the Knicks seemed content to sacrifice a road game against the top team in the East in an effort to get Anthony healthy for the upcoming road trip.
Instead they limited the Cavs to 39 percent shooting and had a chance to win until the final minute. Iman Shumpert’s defense forced the Knicks into a timeout after Arron Afflalo was trapped in the corner with the game tied at 82.
Lance Thomas threw away the inbounds pass and Matthew Dellavedova converted at the other end. The Cavs strung together a couple more stops, including once when Shumpert stripped Afflalo again two possessions later for a turnover, and James clinched the win with a dunk in the final minute.
Mo Williams returned after missing a week with a sprained right thumb, giving the Cavs a fully healthy roster for the first time all season. As a result, coach David Blatt played 10 players in the first quarter and 11 in the game.
“I’ll be happiest when we see a full roster that’s entirely healthy, but it feels good,” Blatt said. “We’ve been waiting for this.”
Irving is still on a minutes restriction, Williams hasn’t practiced since being cleared to return and Shumpert still isn’t completely healthy following a groin injury last week, but this is the closest the Cavs have been to fully healthy since the start of the playoffs last spring.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.