Cavs beat Knicks despite Amare's 41

You know what they say about paybacks.

Point guard Baron Davis scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point dagger with 10.6 seconds left, as the Cavaliers sent the Knicks to a 119-115 loss Friday night at the Garden.

The Knicks had led by 12 points with less than seven minutes remaining, but thanks to poor defense and some bad offensive execution down the stretch, they failed to close out a game against the NBA's worst team for the second time in a week.

Carmelo Anthony - who on Thursday called this "a payback game'' after the Knicks' loss to Cleveland the previous Friday - had a chance to tie it in the final seconds but was called for a charge with 1.8 seconds left. He drove all the way to the hoop and, while missing the layup, ran into forward Samardo Samuels, one of many unsung heroes for Cleveland, which snapped a 26-game road losing streak.

"This is a tough loss. I don't want to say it's embarrassing,'' Anthony said. "It is a tough loss . . . knowing how important it is to take care of home court. To lose to them guys . . . it's a tough one to fathom tonight.''

Amar'e Stoudemire scored 12 of his 41 points in the fourth, including a three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left to make it a one-point game. Ramon Sessions hit a free throw with seven seconds left to make it 117-115 and Luke Harangody sank two more with 1.2 seconds left to clinch it.

Anthony finished with 29 points for the Knicks (31-29), who are 0-3 this season against the Cavaliers, who have the NBA's worst record at 12-49. They lost 36 of 37 games in one stretch earlier this season - and the one victory was over the Knicks in overtime.

J.J. Hickson had 23 points for Cleveland, which faces the Knicks one more time, April 3 at the Garden. That could be a dangerous game, given that the Knicks hope to be battling for playoff positioning at that point.

"I just think we didn't come with the proper energy we needed,'' Stoudemire said. "A game like this was there for us and we didn't accept the challenge of beating these guys . . . The motto is to beat the teams we're supposed to beat.''

Payback? The Knicks looked to exact their revenge in the first six minutes, taking a 22-10 lead, but this wouldn't be a blowout like Wednesday's win over the Hornets. The Cavs just seem to give them fits with their length and energy. The fact that they shot 12-for-21 from three-point range made it even tougher.

The Knicks went ahead 104-92 with 6:58 left before the Cavs' 14-2 run tied it at 106. Stoudemire's jumper with 58.8 seconds left gave the Knicks a 112-110 lead, but Anthony Parker's three with 45.6 seconds left gave the Cavs their first lead since early in the second.

Shawne Williams missed a baseline jumper with 29 seconds left, setting up the killer three by Davis, who made his Cavaliers debut after being acquired last week in a trade with the Clippers. Harangody, another trade-deadline acquisition, had 18 points off the bench. The Knicks' bench was outscored 53-16.

Landry Fields had 17 points for the Knicks, who were without Chauncey Billups, who missed his second game with a deep thigh bruise. Mike D'Antoni hopes to have him back for Sunday's game in Atlanta. Ronny Turiaf was out with a sore left knee and is day-to-day.

Billups was missed dearly late in the game as Toney Douglas (11 points, five assists, five rebounds, three turnovers in 31:31) struggled to run the offense against a very aggressive Cavaliers defense. D'Antoni finally sent Anthony Carter into the game for him with 2:25 left.