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 Cavaliers 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 Cavaliers also topped 140 points for the fourth time in 2024-25, their most in franchise history.
Cavaliers 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 the Chicago Bulls 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 Cleveland won in Brooklyn a night earlier. Friday marked Cleveland's second-largest win this season; the Cavaliers beat the Dallas Mavericks by 43 points Feb. 2.
"Just can't give in, and that's the biggest thing," Thibodeau said. "You can't allow anything to break you. You got to have the mental toughness to get through things. And so there's got to be a lot more resolve, particularly on the road against the team that is this good, you know?"
Cleveland got a scare in the first half when All-Star guard Darius Garland hit his head on the floor while taking an awkward fall. Garland, who missed significant time last season due to a broken jaw, stayed in the game.
The Cavaliers played most of the second half without center Jarrett Allen, who injured his right hand. X-rays were negative.
New York was without versatile swingman Josh Hart, who missed his second straight game because of a sore right knee. But the Knicks saw the return of OG Anunoby, who played for the first time since Feb. 1 after dealing with a toe injury.
Anunoby played 27 minutes, finishing with 5 points, 1 steal and 2 turnovers. He is one of three players with 100 3-pointers, 60 steals and 40 blocks this season.
"It's about what I thought it would be," Thibodeau said of Anunoby's return to action. "There was some good minutes early. ... There's some rust he's got to work through, but I thought he had good energy."
Mitchell went on a tear late in the first half, dropping a trio of 3-pointers in the final 1:43 as Cleveland opened a 27-point halftime lead. Mitchell loves facing the Knicks: He came in averaging 30.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his previous nine regular-season games against New York.
"I don't have any stats to back this up, but it seems like Don does not like to have two bad shooting nights in a row, and when he does shoot bad, you're pretty sure that A) he's going to come out firing and B) he's probably going to make a lot of them," Atkinson said. "That's the competitor he is, and I felt he had a little more oomph today -- a little more juice.
"It's part of what we talked about before with having lost to this team in the playoffs and wanting to prove yourself."
The Knicks fell to 0-6 this season against the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, the only teams with better records than New York.
It's a big weekend for both teams as the Knicks are in Boston on Sunday and the Cavaliers host the top-scoring Memphis Grizzlies that night.
"That's part of this league, and you got to have the toughness to get through those things," Thibodeau said of the quick turnaround. "That's what the schedule says, just be ready to play."
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.