Cavaliers 96, Knicks 86
CLEVELAND -- The sleeves apparently slowed LeBron James in the first half Wednesday night as much as the New York Knicks.
By the fourth quarter, neither could stop him.
The Cavs' All-Star forward scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds in the Cavs' hard-fought 96-86 victory after they trailed by 15.
James ripped open the sleeves on his jersey during the second quarter in the midst of a 4 of 11 shooting half. He was 2 of 6 in the first quarter and his only two baskets were dunks.
James wasn't much better in the second half, shooting 5 of 12 with the extra arm room. But he took over the game in the fourth quarter.
Mo Williams scored 22 points, Kevin Love scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Tristan Thompson had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs.
Forward Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis scored 13 points for the Knicks.
James scored six consecutive points for the Cavs, including a basket off his steal of Jose Calderon for an 81-75 lead with 6:37 to play.
His 3-pointer with four minutes left -- just his second of the season -- extended the Cavs' lead to 87-79. James was 1 of 16 on 3-pointers this year prior to that basket.
The Knicks led 32-18 after the first quarter, but couldn't pull away. They shot 32 percent and managed just 54 points over the final three quarters.
At one point in the third quarter, the Cavs were shooting 12 percent on 3-pointers and 50 percent from the free-throw line, yet the Knicks' lead was only six.
The Knicks didn't trail until the final of the third quarter. The Cavs took their first lead on Matthew Dellavedova's lob to Thompson to give the Cavs a 70-69 lead.
Sleeved jerseys were introduced to the NBA two years ago, but this was the Cavs' first time wearing them. James grumbled when forced to wear them with the Heat in March 2014.
"I'm not making excuses, but I'm not a big fan of the jerseys," he said then. "Every time I shoot it feels like it's just pulling right up underneath my arm. I already don't have much room for error on my jump shot. It's definitely not a good thing."
Love pulled up the sleeve on his right arm while shooting free throws later in the second quarter, although no other players went so far as to tear them. It remains to be seen whether James' stunt will elicit a response from the league, but the NBA does not force the sleeved jerseys onto teams. They choose to use them at their own discretion.
NOTES: F Carmelo Anthony remains close to Cavs G J.R. Smith and G Iman Shumpert from their time together with the Knicks. "It seems like LeBron took my family away from me," Anthony joked. ... While Anthony recently surpassed 21,000 career points, F LeBron James recently passed 25,000. "That's a big moment, a guy who I have known since high school," Anthony said. "That's a helluva mark to reach and we all know how hard he worked to get to that point." ... James served as the Cavs' de facto point guard for much of last season, but has moved back off the ball this season. The Cavs entered Wednesday averaging 27 assists per game, second in the league behind the Golden State Warriors. ... F Richard Jefferson started at guard Wednesday in place of G J.R. Smith, who is expected to miss Friday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers and perhaps Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers with an injured knee.