Jumaine Jones scored 16 of his season-high 28 points in the second half and Andre Miller added 10 of his 25 during a key third-quarter run as the Cavaliers rallied for a 98-88 victory over the New York Knicks.
Cleveland scored just 18 points in the first 16 minutes, leading to frequent boos from the sparse crowd. But the negativity sparked the Cavs, who closed within five at halftime and dominated the rest of the way.
Miller led Cleveland on a 20-6 run to open the third quarter. Jones added eight points during the burst, which put the Cavs ahead for good and built a 62-53 advantage.
 Jumaine Jones swings and misses here, but he more than made up for it with a career-high 28 points. David Liam Kyle NBAE/Getty Images |
The Knicks climbed within 69-68 early in the fourth, but Person drained a 3-pointer to extend the lead. New York again got within one before Cleveland put it away with an 11-2 run.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas made a pair of baskets during the spurt and Person capped it with a 3-pointer to give the Cavs an 85-75 cushion with just over four minutes to play.
Jones, Miler and Person combined to score 44 of their 56 points in the second half. The trio made 28-of-51 shots overall and grabbed 21 rebounds.
Jones was 12-of-19 from the floor and pulled down eight boards.
"I was able to get going early with a couple of open looks," he said. "That got me going. We got a victory, so it feels good to get a win and a career high. That means a lot to me."
"You have to give him a lot of credit," said Knicks forward Kurt Thomas, who guarded Jones most of the game. "Jones was able to get his feet together and spot up for a lot of wide-open jumpers."
Miller collected 11 assists and seven rebounds and Person had 20 points, six boards and five steals. Ilgauskas added 11 points for Cleveland, which has won six of the last nine meetings with New York.
Allan Houston had 28 points and a season-high nine rebounds and Latrell Sprewell scored 17 points on 7-of-22 shooting for the Knicks, who have lost seven of their last nine games.
"The third quarter really hurt us," Houston said. "We had a lead, but we're not good enough to sit back and enjoy a lead. Sometimes we forget what got us there. This game is more mental than it is physical, especially when you're up and you have a team down."
Houston made 8-of-10 shots in the first 24 minutes, including all four 3-point attempts. But he was just 3-of-10 and did not try a 3-pointer in the second half.
"What they did was start running people at him," Knicks coach Don Chaney said. "So he did the right thing, he passed when he was double-teamed. We just had open shots we couldn't knock down."
New York shot 41 percent (35-of-85) and committed 18 turnovers leading to 25 points for Cleveland.
The Knicks missed their first eight shots but made 9-of-18 in the rest of the opening period to take a 24-16 lead.
New York started the second period with a 9-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Houston and Charlie Ward, and took its largest lead, 33-18, on a free throw by Sprewell with 8:17 left.
The Knicks had a 37-23 advantage with 6:48 to go, but the Cavs closed the first half with a 19-10 run. Jones scored nine points and Miller totaled six during the spurt, which got Cleveland within 47-42 at halftime.