CLEVELAND — Jalen Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and the New York Knicks downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2013.

The Knicks easily controlled a series that was more one-sided than expected, even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half.

New York won the opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, overpowered the Cavs twice at noisy Madison Square Garden and then returned to Cleveland to finish the job. The fifth-seeded Knicks will meet the Miami-Milwaukee winner next.

Brunson was the consistent ingredient throughout the series for the Knicks, who signed the stocky guard as a free agent last summer before their attempt to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade from Utah fell apart and he landed in Cleveland.

Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York in scoring all four wins while outplaying Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.

Mitchell scored 28 and Darius Garland 21 for the Cavs, who won 51 games during the regular season but whose inexperience showed throughout their first playoff series in five years. The Cavs weren’t ready.

A bigger issue, though, seemed to be Cleveland’s toughness. The Cavs got pushed around and outrebounded in all four losses, including 48-30 in the clincher.

New York center Mitchell Robinson finished with 18 rebounds — 11 offensive — in Game 5 and the 7-footer didn’t shy away from calling out the Cavs for being soft after Game 3, saying they appeared to be shaken.

Cleveland hoped to recapture some of its 2016 magic and overcome a 3-1 deficit like LeBron James and the Cavs did in the NBA Finals to shock Golden State. But Brunson, Barrett and the rest of the Knicks had other plans.

They closed out the Cavs in the second half without Randle.

The All-Star forward left late in the second quarter after aggravating a sprained left ankle and didn’t return. Obi Toppin started in his place and scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Knicks opened an 18-point lead.

New York never let Cleveland get closer than six in the fourth, much to the delight of several hundred Knicks fans who celebrated behind their bench.

GRIZZLIES 116, LAKERS 99: Desmond Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morant added 31 points and 10 boards, and Memphis staved off elimination by beating Los Angeles.

Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0 in Game 5s played in Memphis and cut the seventh-seeded Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Memphis earned a second straight No. 2 seed by posting the NBA’s best home record at 35-6.

Game 6 is Friday night in Los Angeles.

LeBron James started 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

NOTES

LABOR: The NBA and its players have voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, formalizing a deal that was tentatively agreed to earlier this month.

The deal goes into effect in July and stretches through the 2029-30 season, though both sides have the option of ending it a year early.

It means the most financially successful era in NBA history will continue uninterrupted for at least six more years. Among the highlights: the addition of an in-season tournament that Commissioner Adam Silver has wanted for years, and about $160 million in team and league licensing revenue getting added annually to the total of basketball-related income that is split with the players.

Such income will remain a 50-50 split — but the pool will get bigger, which will add to player salaries.

Other changes coming in the new CBA include the elimination of marijuana from the list of banned substances, less invasive testing for performance-enhancing drugs, a slight drop in the percentage of salary players will lose when suspended for a game or more — and the assurance that even if revenues drop, the salary cap will not.

TIMBERWOLVES: Star Anthony Edwards was cited for third-degree assault by Denver police following the team’s season-ending loss to the Nuggets, after he allegedly swung a folding chair and struck two women who were working at the time at Ball Arena.

Denver beat Minnesota 112-109 on Tuesday night to win the first-round NBA playoff series in five games. Edwards missed the tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

According to the report received by Denver police, Edwards was walking off the court to the locker room when he swung the chair and injured the employees. Their injuries were not serious, Denver police spokesman Jay Casillas said.

The Timberwolves, in a statement, said they were “aware of the alleged incident” and “in the process of gathering more information.” The club had no further comment.

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