Knicks vs. Cavaliers: Score, Highlights and Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

The champs are here.  

Shortly after receiving some sweet bling to commemorate their NBA Finals triumph over the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers opened the 2016-17 season Tuesday night with an emphatic 117-88 win over the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. 

And just as they did last postseason, the Cavs leaned on their star-studded trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to lead the way. 

James set the tone with 19 points (9-of-14 shooting), 14 assists and 11 rebounds, and his triple-double was the first in a team's season opener since Jason Kidd in 2006, according to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver. 

ESPN Stats & Info provided another historical tidbit regarding James' staggering production: 

With James serving as the Cavs' primary facilitator, Irving assumed the role of go-to scorer and poured in a game-high 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting (4-of-7 from three) to go with four assists and two steals. 

Love double-doubled with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and he added three steals on a night when he looked spry on both ends of the floor. Furthermore, Love's final tallies of 23 points, 12 rebounds and three steals gave him a line he didn't post in a single game all of last season.  

Vice Sports' Jared Dubin took note of Love's stellar play: 

Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose dropped 19 and 17 points for the Knicks, respectively, while Kristaps Porzingis notched 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. 

Those numbers look decent in a vacuum, but the Knicks turned the ball over 18 times and tallied just 17 assists as they failed to mesh against the class of the Eastern Conference—especially early. 

The Cavaliers led by 10 after the first quarter despite shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 2-of-10 from three. They had the Knicks' sloppy play to thank for that. 

Although the Knicks held true to the tenets of head coach Jeff Hornacek's offense and pushed the pace, they turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter. 

As the Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring observed, the Knicks didn't look like a cohesive unit early: 

With the Knicks struggling to click, the Cavaliers picked up right where they left off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, as the NBA on TNT documented on Twitter: 

Cleveland's offense wasn't always at its sharpest, but the Cavs' chemistry was evident when contrasted with the Knicks' lack of familiarity with one another. 

The defending champions were especially lethal on the break thanks to LeBron's high-flying theatrics: 

However, the Knicks made an impressive push as the first half progressed. 

Although they trailed by as many as 12, the Knicks countered with a 15-2 run at one point and outscored the Cavaliers by seven in the second quarter to draw within three at the break. 

For that, they had Rose and Anthony to thank. 

New York's new floor general started slow and committed four turnovers in the first half, but he settled down in the second quarter and appeared comfortable creating off the bounce. 

The former MVP dropped 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting over the game's first 24 minutes, and his ability to twist around defenders and finish at the rim gave the Knicks a much-needed boost, courtesy of the NBA: 

Anthony dropped 13 points—including 11 of the Knicks' first 17—during the first half. That sort of firepower was a welcome sight a season after New York finished 24th in offensive efficiency, according to Basketball-Reference.com. 

Sensing a Knicks surge, the Cavaliers snapped out of their brief haze and cranked the intensity up.

Threes started to fall for Irving and Love, which caused the floodgates to open, as Herring noted: 

The Cavs went on to outscore the Knicks by 15 in the third quarter, and Irving stole the show with 19 points as he channeled some of the sweet shooting and playmaking that allowed him to burn the Warriors in June. To put that number in perspective, the Knicks scored 19 points as a team in the third. 

Not to be outdone, James provided the sequence of the game when he threw down a pair of ferocious slams on back-to-back possessions to galvanize the Cavaliers: 

With the Knicks on the ropes, the Cavaliers continued to land haymakers until the result was no longer in question. 

While it was just one win, the Cavaliers made a statement Tuesday by refusing to take their foot off the pedal and coasting on a night when it would have been easy to get sidetracked by distractions. 

Next up for the reigning champs is a road clash with the Toronto Raptors on Friday, when they will seek to reassert themselves as the East's best just a few months after they defeated the Atlantic Division champions in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

The Knicks, meanwhile, will be off until Saturday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies in their home opener at Madison Square Garden. 

Postgame Reaction

"(LeBron) got tested this summer and they said he had the body, bones and structure of a 19-year-old kid," head coach Tyronn Lue said, per Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz. "Maybe he's aging backwards."

In addition to LeBron's play, Lue was encouraged by his team's unselfishness. 

"We had 31 assists, and didn't even make shots in the first half," he said, per Swartz. 

As for the Knicks, players were left searching for answers in the wake of the blowout loss. 

"I think we were a little unsettled in the things we were doing tonight," Hornacek said, per the team's official Twitter account. 

"We didn't get back on defense," Porzingis said, per the Knicks' Twitter account. "We didn't do the little things."

If there's good news for the Knicks, it's that they have plenty of time left to evolve. 

"Thank God it's the first game," Rose said, per ESPN.com's Ian Begley. "We have a lot of room to improve."