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Knicks still can't beat Cavs in Cleveland

Jan 26, 2012 - 4:37 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Antawn Jamison scored 15 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a four-game losing streak Wednesday with a 91-81 win over the New York Knicks.

Anderson Varejao had 10 points with 16 rebounds while Omri Casspi and Anthony Parker scored 13 apiece in Cleveland's ninth straight home win against the Knicks.

The Cavaliers held New York under 38 percent shooting in the second half to bounce back from a loss to LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Tuesday.

Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points one night after finishing with a career-low one point on 0-of-7 shooting, but had trouble trying to explain New York's offensive woes.

"I can't really put my finger on it right now," said Anthony. "We'll got back and look at it to see what happened. But right now, I can't even think about it."

Amare Stoudemire scored 19 with 14 rebounds for the Knicks.

Both teams played on Tuesday night -- the Cavaliers in Miami and the Knicks in Charlotte, where they won to snap a six-game losing streak.

Cavs coach Byron Scott said he thought the Knicks arrived in Cleveland before his team got back and explained in six words why the Cavs were able to pull away in the second half while New York was not.

"Our defense was pretty good tonight," said Scott.

Cleveland had a 27-23 lead after the first quarter and went to the locker room tied with the Knicks, 45-45, then pulled away in the second half.

A quick 5-0 burst gave the Cavs a six-point lead. New York came back to tie the score twice, but Cleveland carried a 69-64 advantage into the fourth.

The Cavs used a 10-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to build a 72-64 lead on Ryan Hollins' three-point play. Later, their lead was 86-75 on Varejao's slashing one-handed dunk with around three minutes to play.

"We kept it pretty close," said Scott, "then all of a sudden we started making shots and didn't stop."

The Knicks were never closer that 10 after that. They haven't won in Cleveland since November 29, 2006, and have dropped 17 of their last 20 games in the city.

The Cavs have won 13 of the last 15 games between the teams -- most of them coming in the James era.

Game Notes

The Knicks are 1-1 on a four-game road trip that continues Friday in Miami. They shot 42.1 percent in the game, including 37.8 percent in the second half...Cleveland shot 43.6 percent.