102

Final 1 2 3 4 Tot Cleveland 28 17 28 29 102 New York 27 21 30 25 103

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Cavaliers-Knicks Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO

(AP) -- The New York Knicks own the best record in the Eastern Conference, and are the NBA's only remaining unbeaten team at home.

They may have to withstand another absence by Carmelo Anthony to continue that run.

With Anthony's status unclear, the Knicks will try to improve to 10-0 at Madison Square Garden for the first time in 21 years as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

New York (17-5) has opened the season with nine wins in a row at home, averaging 106.6 points while hitting 43.0 percent from beyond the arc - a staggering 12.2 3-pointers per game.

The Knicks haven't enjoyed a better start at MSG since beginning 11-0 in 1991-92.

Anthony has been the catalyst, scoring 29.0 points per game at home while averaging 36.3 in New York's current three-game win streak - including 45 across the river in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

He scored 22 of his 30 points in the opening quarter Thursday before spraining his left ankle in the third of New York's 116-107 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, which opened this season-high six-game homestand.

"He's fun to watch when he's playing like that," said center Tyson Chandler, who had 18 points. "He's pretty much unstoppable when he's playing that way."

It's uncertain if Anthony will be playing at all Saturday.

That could leave the Knicks without the league's second-leading scorer for the third time in six games. They split visits to Miami and Chicago without him last week before he returned from a cut on his finger with 34 points in Sunday's win over Denver.

Raymond Felton picked up the slack in his absence last week, scoring 27 apiece in the win against the Heat and the loss to the Bulls.

Felton is second on the team with an average of 15.9 points and its leader with 6.8 assists, but he's struggled with his shot lately. He's shooting just 30.2 percent since Anthony's return against the Nuggets.

One of Felton's worst performances last season came against Cleveland in a win with Portland on Jan. 8. He was 1 of 9 from the floor and finished with two points.

The Knicks have averaged 111.3 points while winning three in a row against the Cavaliers (5-19) at MSG.

Cleveland, 2-12 on the road, has dropped seven of eight this month while scoring 89.8 points per contest behind 38.5 percent shooting.

The Cavaliers' struggles continued with Friday's 90-86 loss to Milwaukee, as they committed 27 turnovers - their highest total since having 28 in an overtime win against Golden State on Jan. 20, 2007.

Coach Byron Scott was left searching for answers.

"I have no idea," Scott said. "If I knew that I'd bottle it up and make a lot of money because I have no idea."

The Cavaliers are also dealing with a pair of banged-up stars in Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao.

Irving, the team leader with 22.5 points per game, took a nasty fall in the first quarter Friday. He returned to the game and finished with 26 points, but an examination later showed he suffered a broken bone in his jaw. Irving did not accompany the team to New York so he could be fitted with a protective mask, but he plans to play Saturday.

Varejao also was knocked out of Friday's win after sustaining a lower left leg contusion, but X-rays were negative and he returned to compile eight points and 18 boards.

The center leads the NBA with an average of 14.9 rebounds to accompany his 14.0 points.

Injuries have forced Varejao to miss six of the last seven meetings with the Knicks, while Irving scored 21 points in a 98-90 win against them at home April 20.

Updated December 15, 2012