It was just like when the starting pitcher leaves the game after a brilliant effort — a huge ovation from the fans, acknowledging the excellence.
With 5:02 to go in the Knicks’ 120-103 victory against the Cavaliers Wednesday night, Baron Davis and J.R. Smith checked out of the game, hearing a terrific ovation from the Garden crowd. Jeremy Lin hugged Davis. And the whole Knicks bench stood up to greet Davis and Smith as they got to the bench.
“That ovation was sweet. That’s why I came here,” Davis said. “I love the fans. I love the energy.”
It was Davis in particular who was superb for the Knicks last night, delivering an impressive performance off the bench. After Lin led the Knicks back from a 12-point halftime deficit to tie the game late in the third quarter, Davis checked in for him.
When he left, the Knicks were ahead by 13.
In his 15 minutes of action last night, Davis racked up four points and eight assists — with five assists in his eight-plus second-half minutes. And he also racked up zero turnovers.
“He really has a vision that, not many people are born with that,” coach Mike D’Antoni said.
The strong effort came against the same Cavaliers team that used the amnesty clause to release Davis before the season. On Tuesday, Davis had insisted there was no bitterness toward Cleveland, and he reiterated last night there wasn’t any bonus motivation. Rather, Davis’ priority is his personal resurgence. In his first three Knicks games after sitting out the first two months of the season with a herniated disk, he shot a combined 1-for-12 and turned it over seven times. Last night, he was 2-of-4 from the field.
“For me, my whole motivation is trying to get back,” Davis said.
Hard feelings or not, Davis was terrific against his former team. He fed Jared Jeffries for a layup off a nice drive-and-dish. He sank a foul-line jumper and converted a driving layup. He hit Smith for a fast-break layup, then tossed a perfect alley-oop to Smith for a dunk that gave the Knicks a 99-86 lead.
“For a good part of my career, I wasn’t having fun and I didn’t really enjoy the game and I wanted to enjoy the game again,” Davis said. “I figured if I played in this system that’s fit for my talents then I’ll be able to do that.”
Davis, who turns 33 in April, said he’s not at full strength yet. He also said he can’t really play more than 15 minutes at the moment.
“That was enough,” he said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
mark.hale@nypost.com