The Knicks made the playoffs in every season of the 1990s and twice more to start the new millennium, reaching the NBA Finals twice in that span behind gritty defense-minded teams that perfectly represented New York City’s tenacity and lunch-pail work ethic.

A couple of decades of despair and mostly losing hoops later, those traits once again were the backbone of the Knicks’ suffocating 99-79 blowout victory Friday night over the Cavaliers.

As a result, the Knicks will carry a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series into Game 4 on Sunday.

Tom Thibodeau’s team began four straight days of alternating home playoff games with the Rangers with a throwback defensive gem at a raucous and chaotic Madison Square Garden.

They registered 14 steals and 11 offensive rebounds, while holding Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers to 38.8 percent shooting and just 7-for-33 from 3-point range.

“Being in this environment, there is no replica, there is nothing that comes close to it. And I’m just happy to be a part of it,” Jalen Brunson said after the Knicks became the first team in the NBA this season to hold an opponent under 80 points. “Everyone just locked in on our game plan and executed.”

The boisterous home crowd erupted throughout the fourth quarter as the Knicks pulled away, voicing separate throaty chants for Brunson, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Julius Randle, popular non-rotation veteran Derrick Rose and, of course, often reminding their visitors that “Cleveland sucks!”

Rose, who had played just two minutes since Dec. 31, came off the bench to rousing applause when he checked into the game with 2:30 remaining.

“It’s the Garden, man. What can I say? It was loud and fun to play in, man,” Barrett said. “As a basketball player, you grow up thinking about moments like these. It was electric in the air, and glad we get to come back Sunday.”

Want to catch a game? The Knicks schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.

Brunson overcame a rough Game 2 and a slow start Friday night to finish with a team-high 21 points, as the Knicks prevailed despite just 11 points from Randle, who missed 12 of 15 field-goal attempts.

The Knicks also had been waiting for a breakout game from Barrett in postseason play, and he delivered 14 points in the first half and 19 for the game on 8-for-12 shooting after two shaky offensive performances (6-for-25) to open the series.

Mitchell scored 22 to lead Cleveland, but Game 2 hero Darius Garland was stifled, held to 10 points on 4-for-21 shooting, before he twisted his ankle in the fourth quarter.

Asked afterward if the Cavaliers appeared rattled, Mitchell Robinson said “probably” and made a shivering gesture.

“I thought we had good overall activity, good intensity. Guys were connected,” Thibodeau said. “Did a good job challenging shots and then finishing. … But it’s one game. Now the challenge is to get ready for Game 4.”

The home crowd was engaged from the start, loudly booing Mitchell during pregame introductions before the Westchester County product’s first career postseason game at the Garden.

Barrett further ignited the crowd with an early 3-pointer off Robinson’s steal.

He later went coast-to-coast for a layup after Quentin Grimes, who left late in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, had rejected Garland’s short-range shot.

Still, beyond Barrett’s early trey, the teams combined to miss 17 of the game’s first 18 attempts from beyond the arc, including three straight clanks by Randle and an 0-for-8 skid by Cleveland.

Garland, who registered 26 first-half points and 32 overall in Game 2, started 0-for-8 from the field, but Mitchell finally got the Cavaliers on the board from deep for a 17-17 tie through one.

A pull-up jumper by Brunson and Randle’s first 3-pointer and field goal of the night extended the lead to seven in the second quarter before consecutive dunks by Robinson and Brunson led to a 45-32 halftime lead.

Randle drove the lane for a thunderous one-handed dunk in the face of Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, who had been assessed a flagrant foul for knocking Randle to the floor on a dunk attempt late in Game 2.

After Isaiah Hartenstein rejected a drive by Mitchell, another pull-up jumper by Brunson helped push the lead to 17 by the end of the quarter.

Toppin fed Robinson for a dunk, nailed a corner-3 and converted a lob pass from Immanuel Quickley for a dunk and a traditional three-point play for a 21-point lead, 83-62, with under eight minutes remaining in the fourth.

Josh Hart (13 points) crashed the offensive glass for a put-back slam in the closing minutes before Toppin put the finishing touches on the thorough rout with an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Rose, bringing the fans to their feet one final time.

“It’s hard to put into words. That’s something you dream about as a kid,” Hart said. “Need it again on Sunday. It’s going to be rocking.”