The New York Knicks' 0-3 start to the season feels like the distant past. 

The defending champions are 5-4 now, having won five of their last six games. Their latest, on Saturday, was a statement 109-97 victory in Cleveland. 

The Knicks fed off the 60 combined points from their star duo, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, to climb above .500 for the first time this campaign. 

Head coach Mike Brown acknowledges that his side can still do many things better, but not without appreciating the magnitude of the result. 

"Ugly game but good win by our guys," he said. "We did enough to get it done... [After a 0-3 start], we'll take it to see if we can build a little positive equity... I thought we did a nice job taking care of the ball in the first half. That helps a lot when you're on the road. We got great production from our bench. Good road win." 

The Knicks go as their one-two punch goes, and it looks like Brunson and Towns are locked in on taking them far again. 

Brunson paced New York with 31 points. He added six rebounds and nine assists. He's averaging 28.8 points and 6.4 assists over the last five games, shooting a sizzling 45 percent from beyond the arc. 

Towns has been on a tear lately, too. He dropped 29 points and 13 rebounds against the Cavaliers, adding three assists and two steals.

KAT has nine straight double-doubles, averaging just under 14 rebounds this year. 

The duo has been pivotal to the Knicks' turnaround. The win in Cleveland was important for several reasons, one of which was that it felt like the Knicks had something to prove. Three of their four wins prior were against Chicago and Brooklyn — a fairly soft schedule. Now, they have the Cavs to add to the Detroit Pistons on their resume. 

It appears that the champs have figured some things out and are back on the right track. 

Brown praised his bench for the impact against Cleveland, shouting out the likes of Miles McBride, Mo Diawara, Andre Drummond, and Jordan Clarkson. 

He named Drummond as the Defensive Player of the Game. The big man didn't score but posted eight rebounds, two steals, and a block. 

Clarkson led the second unit with 9 points on 4-for-5 shooting in 15 minutes. Diawara notched a team-high plus-minus of +16 with 2 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Tyler Kolek was also productive with four rebounds, five assists, and a steal in 14 minutes. 

OG Anunoby boosted the starters with 15 points. 

Brown pinpointed his team's buy-in to crash the glass and extend possessions as a key to victory. The Knicks had 26 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. 

The Knicks will see the Cavs again on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in the second half of a back-to-back for New York.