The Cavs welcome Dean Wade back from injury and host the New York Knicks, who hold the East's No. 3 seed, at the newly renamed Rocket Arena on Friday.

CLEVELAND — The Knicks arrived and left Cleveland with the same problem: Their defense is atrocious against the NBA’s best. Tom Thibodeau’s group was massacred Friday night by Kenny Atkinson’s high-octane Cavaliers, who made the Knicks look jayvee in a 142-105 laugher.

Prior to Friday night, the Knicks and Cavs hadn’t met since October – a matchup won by Cleveland that wasn’t understood, at the time, as a significant measuring stick. The latest head-to-head

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CLEVELAND — 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.

In a dominating effort throughout the contest, the Cavaliers rallied a blowout victory, 142-105, on their home floor to lift to 2-0 on the season against the Knicks, and furthering their cushion as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.