Brunson powers Knicks over Cavs

Los Angeles — Jalen Brunson scored 31 points to propel the NBA champion New York Knicks to a convincing 109-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals.

Brunson scored 18 points in the second quarter as the Knicks broke open a close game in Cleveland, where the Cavs were coming off an impressive win over LeBron James and the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player added six rebounds and nine assists.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points with 13 rebounds and two steals for the Knicks, who notched their fifth win in six games after starting the season 0-3.

Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points to lead the Cavs, but Cleveland felt the absence of center Jarrett Allen and when Brunson took over in the second period they couldn’t respond.

The Knicks pushed the lead to as many as 19 points. They connected on just 42.7 percent of their shots from the field but came up with 26 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.