CLEVELAND — It felt like early November on the streets of Northeast Ohio. Inside Rocket Arena, it looked like late May.
Jalen Brunson was untouchable. Karl-Anthony Towns was unstoppable. Analytics were unnecessary. The eye test was enough for anyone to determine the best team on the floor.
The Knicks extended their dominance over the Cavaliers in their first meeting since their Eastern Conference finals sweep, earning their first three-game winning streak of the season with a 109-97 win Saturday night.
After becoming the first reigning champion in 15 years to drop its first three games of the season, the Knicks are now over .500 for the first time this season, having won five of their past six games.
The Knicks (5-4) return home to face the Bucks on Tuesday, followed by another meeting with the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden the next day.
Brunson initially struggled in his return to the floor where the Knicks clinched their first NBA Finals berth in 27 years, but eventually resembled the Finals MVP, finishing with 31 points (12-for-25 shooting, including 3-for-7 on 3-pointers), nine assists and six rebounds.
Towns had 29 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
The Cavaliers (5-5), coming off an impressive 119-95 win over LeBron James’ 76ers the previous night, ended their back-to-back home set looking as far from contention as the team that lost the final three games of the conference finals by a combined 66 points.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 37 points.
Despite coming off a blowout win against the Bulls that doubled as their most impressive performance of the season, the Knicks fell behind early, adding another slow start to their collection this season.
The foul-prone Towns was whistled on a call 22 seconds into the game, but he remained aggressive, scoring seven of the team’s first 11 points. While Brunson struggled to sink a series of clean looks, Towns overpowered the Cavs frontline, including an emphatic windmill slam for a 3-point play.
The Knicks big man had 14 points and four rebounds in the first quarter, shooting 4 of 6 from the field, while his teammates shot 5 of 16.
Mike Brown was searching for answers, throwing out 11 players as the Knicks fell behind by six and missed 16 of their first 19 3-pointers, but the coach just needed the man most responsible for the end of the franchise’s 53-year title drought.
The captain took the wheel when Towns went to the bench, rediscovering the touch that had eluded him for much of the start of the Knicks’ title defense.
Brunson made his return visit to Cleveland look like an extension of the Eastern Conference finals, scoring 18 straight points in the second quarter to swing momentum.
The Finals MVP shot 6 of 9 in the second quarter (3-for-4 on 3-pointers), adding three assists. Back-to-back 3-pointers by OG Anunoby stretched the lead to 13, before the Knicks went to halftime with a 63-53 lead, with Brunson and Towns combining for 38 first-half points.
Landry Shamet — who started in place of the injured Josh Hart and went 11 of 12 on 3-pointers against the Cavaliers in the conference finals, setting a single-series postseason record — hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter to give the Knicks an 88-69 lead, quieting all but the countless blue-and-orange invaders in the crowd.
With James Harden invisible again — scoring seven points on 2-for-9 shooting — Mitchell tried to will the Cavs back in it by scoring 22 of the team’s first 26 fourth-quarter points, bringing Cleveland within eight with under two minutes remaining.
But it was too late.
The champs had spoken.
