Cavaliers 90, Knicks 87: Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 37 points and visiting Cleveland won its fifth straight game.

LeBron James scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and handed out a season-high 12 assists as the Cavaliers avenged a loss to New York at home earlier this season. Kevin Love chipped in 11 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which held the hosts to just 34 second-half points.

Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 20 points off the bench while Amar'e Stoudemire finished with 18 and nine rebounds. Carmelo Anthony had nine points on 4-of-19 shooting, the final miss coming on a last-second 3-pointer that rimmed out, giving New York (4-16) the worst start after 20 games in franchise history.

James knocked down a deep 3 to put Cleveland up 86-85 with just under four minutes left and Irving followed with a steal and a pass ahead to James for a dunk and a three-point lead. The only points for the next three-plus minutes came on a Stoudemire basket that pulled the Knicks within one, but Irving drove for a layup with 10 ticks remaining and Anthony's long jumper over James was off.

James' three-point play with 2:17 left in the first quarter gave Cleveland a 23-21 lead but the superstar would have one point for the remainder of the half as the Knicks took a 53-50 edge into the locker room, despite Irving's 23 points. Irving's layup late in the third gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the second half before Shane Larkin hit a 3-pointer and fed Stoudemire for a dunk to help New York claim a 73-68 advantage going into the fourth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Knicks SG J.R. Smith returned from a one-game layoff due to the flu and scored nine points. ... Irving's first assist came on James' dunk with 3:25 left. ... New York SF Quincy Acy contributed a career-high 15 points and made three of the Knicks' five foul shots.