NEW YORK, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Jeremy Lin had 19 points and 13 assists, Steve Novak had 17 points off the bench as the New York Knicks turned a 17-point deficit into a 120-103 win over Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
The Knicks outscored the Cavs 71-42 in the second half to improve the record to 18-18 heading into a four-game road trip which begins Sunday in Boston.
Carmelo Anthony scored 22 for the Knicks, who capped a 10-5 month, their first 10-win February since going 10-3 in 1996-97.
The Knicks didn't lead until Novak made consecutive 3-pointers to put them up 75-74 with 2:52 left in the third quarter, then dominated the fourth quarter to send the Cavs to their third straight loss.
Novak scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Davis had five of his eight assists during an eight minute stretch in the second half that saw the Knicks go from 76-all to a 101-88 lead before Jeremy Lin replaced Davis.
When Novak was replaced with 5:23 to play, the veteran forward received a standing ovation.
After missing his first two 3-point attempts, the 6-foot-10 Novak made five of his last six and had the Garden roaring with each shot.
Tyson Chandler finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Amar'e Stoudemire struggled, scoring 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting.
Cavs rookie Kyrie Irving scored 22 with seven assists and Antawn Jamison added 23 as Cleveland fell to 13-20.
The Knicks were awful defensively in the first half, allowing 31 and 30 points respectively in the first two quarters. Cleveland also converted six of 11 3-pointers while the Knicks missed all six attempts which is why D'Antoni's team found itself trailing by as many as 17.
Novak drained three from behind the arc as the Knicks scored 33 points in the third quarter and went up 82-80. He then hit another to open the fourth.
"Everybody needs to know their role and what's expected of them," D'Antoni said.
"You have to kind of stick with them. That's the premise you go with and you try to do that. You also give guys opportunities to make mistakes as long as they're not hustle mistakes, they're basketball mistakes and you stick with them and you believe in who they are and what they do."
