Music was blaring in the Cavaliers locker room. Players were flashing toothy smiles.

So what kind of victory was it?

``It was a big win,'' forward Jumaine Jones said.

Wrong answer, according to Coach John Lucas.

``It was a great win for us,'' forward Ricky Davis said.

Lucas couldn't have liked that answer either.

``Anytime you can beat a team like New York, you've got to feel good,'' guard Wesley Person said.

Lucas didn't.

After the Cavs defeated the Knicks 98-88 last night at Gund Arena, you'd think Lucas would have joined the chorus in praising the team's performance.

Hardly. Wearing an icy expression that could have frozen a Florida orange crop, Lucas ripped just about everything he could.

``If you're looking for a compliment, you're not going to get one,'' Lucas said.

Lucas was in no mood to sing the praises of Jones scoring a career-high 28 points. He wasn't about to celebrate point guard Andre Miller racking up 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.

``All of a sudden, we're not considered garbage, and now all of a sudden, we believe it,'' said Lucas, whose Cavs (12-17) started 2-9. ``We're still some garbage. . . . My team believes it's a good win, but I don't think it was solid.

``We act like a team that believes it's won more than six NBA titles and all we've done is win seven games a month.''

It must be said, though, that Lucas had a moment when he acted as if his team had at least won a conference title. When Person drilled a 3-pointer from the left side that put the Cavs ahead 65-56 with 3:25 left in the third quarter, Lucas jumped on top of the scorer's table. A footprint still was visible after the game ended.

Lucas claimed he wasn't necessarily jumping for joy because of the basket. He was just glad his team ran one of his plays correctly.

``Something worked finally,'' Lucas said. ``Ricky Davis made the right read and swung it.''

Lucas' postgame comments show just how far the once-proud Knicks (13-16) have fallen. When a reporter suggested it was a quality win, Lucas noted that New York is ``under .500.''

With that in mind, Lucas was upset that his team came out lethargic, trailing 33-18 early in the second quarter. The Cavs eventually were able to cut the deficit to five at 47-42 at halftime.

When the Cavs opened the second half with a 20-6 run to go ahead 62-53, Lucas conceded to being a tad happy. It was hard to deny it after he nearly hurdled the scorer's table. But Lucas was upset at what transpired thereafter.

``We stopped playing,'' said Lucas, noting his team was playing ``to the crowd.'' We're young, dumb and clumsy. We've got to get out of our teen-age years and mature and get better.''

For what it was worth, the Cavs never allowed the Knicks to regain the lead, although the Knicks did cut the deficit to one early in the fourth quarter. The Cavs put the game away because center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who played 19 minutes off the bench, had six of his 11 points in the final quarter. Lucas noted it was because Ilgauskas ``started realizing he was 7-foot-3 and stopped pump faking.''

Then there was Jones. Picking up some scoring slack with Lamond Murray out due to a bad back, Jones had 16 of his points and six of his eight rebounds in the second half. All Lucas could muster about Jones' career-high scoring effort was, ``That's great.'' Maybe he didn't like the fact Jones got his final points on an alley-oop dunk in the waning seconds when the game already had been decided.

Then there was Person, who had some defensive troubles in the first half when Knicks guard Allan Houston scored 20 of his 28 points.

But in the second half, Person was much better, helping force Houston into 3-of-10 shooting.

Person had 14 of his 20 points and four of his five steals after halftime.

``Wesley Person has been major,'' Lucas said. ``He's been a guy that has stepped up night after night and taken on a major leadership role.''

Wait a minute. Did Lucas just utter a compliment that wasn't left-handed (Lucas, of course, is left-handed)?

Yes, he did. But let the record show he wasn't smiling when he said it.