NEW YORK _ The New York Knicks had already defeated the Cavaliers on Oct. 29.
If they needed more motivation for the second of four games this season, they drew it from LeBron James' comment Saturday night in Dallas that seemed to disrespect their eighth overall pick, guard Frank Ntilikina.
James' contention that Mavs guard Dennis Smith Jr., taken at No. 9, would have been a better fit with star Kristaps Porzingis ignited the Madison Square Garden crowd and the Knicks Monday night.
Turnovers and poor 3-point shooting against a younger, faster Knicks team seemingly was going to be the Cavs' downfall. They trailed by as many as 23 points and were down behind by 15 after three quarters, but took a three-point lead with 1:23 to go on a stepback 3-pointer by James that was cheered as if it had happened in Cleveland.
Kyle Korver once again came to the rescue, scoring 19 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavs rallied for a 104-101 victory. Korver did the same on Saturday, when all 13 of his points came in the fourth quarter of the Cavs' victory over the Mavs.
Korver scored the Cavs' final four points from the free-throw line, including two with 10.1 seconds to play.
James led the Cavs (7-7) with 23 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists, Dwyane Wade contributed 15 points and eight rebounds, including a crucial offensive rebound with 10.1 seconds left, and Jae Crowder added 13 points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 28 points, Enes Kanter recorded his sixth double-double of the season and the Knicks (7-6) had four players in double figures.
Kanter scored a season-high 20, surpassing his previous best of 18 against the Cavs, with 16 rebounds. Ntilikina produced six steals, along with seven points, three rebounds and two assists. A native of Belgium, Ntilikina became the first Knicks rookie with more than five steals in a game since Mark Jackson in 1987.
As Tommy Beer of Basketballinsiders.com tweeted, Ntilikina got six steals in his first 18 minutes against the Cavs, and Smith Jr. has 12 steals in 346 minutes this season.
Porzingis, who entered the day as the league's second-leading scorer with a 30.4 average, was held to 20 points.
Things looked so bad in the third quarter when the Cavs fell behind by 17 that coach Tyronn Lue yanked all five starters.
The Cavs conclude a four-game road trip in Charlotte on Wednesday. They won back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 2-0.
Ill feelings between James and Kanter over James' comment about Smith and Kanter's response carried over into the game.
With 40.2 seconds left in the first quarter, the two jawed at each other under the Cavs' basket, resulting in double technical fouls. Kanter obviously wasn't happy what James had said at shootaround, when he took offense to Kanter's defense of Ntilikina in a tweet shortly after James spoke in Dallas. Then at practice Sunday, Kanter told the New York media, "I don't care who, I just cannot let anyone disrespect my family like that."
James responded Monday morning, saying, "And for Enes Kanter, who always got something to say. I don't know what's wrong with him."
James was already being booed every time he touched the ball over his remarks about Smith and the encounter with Kanter only turned up the decibel level in the Garden.
That was just the start of a Cavs' run of three technical fouls in the first half. At the break, they had more technicals than 3-pointers, going 2-of-17 beyond the arc.
With 6:10 left in the second quarter, Kyle O'Quinn fell on Jeff Green's leg as they fell on Green's drive to the basket. Injured Cavs guard Isaiah Thomas' reaction from the bench drew No. 2.
The third came at the 4:22 mark of the second quarter when Dwyane Wade argued for a foul call to no avail.
The Cavs seemed to have lost focus and it carried over to their shooting, their defense and their ball-handling.
In the second quarter, the Cavs made just 5-of-23 field goals, 0-for-9 from 3-point range, and lost seven turnovers. Meanwhile, the Knicks shot a more respectable 11-of-27, 3-for-10 from long range, and had just three turnovers.
Among those in the stands at the Garden were a group of New York Yankees, film director and longtime Knicks fan Spike Lee, comedian Chris Rock, rappers Q-Tip, Action Bronson and Chance the Rapper and actress Mariska Hargitay, along with Saturday Night Live cast members Leslie Jones, Michael Che and Pete Davidson.
