VISIT http://phtbasketball.com/forums/ FOR MORE!!!
NEW YORK (NBA.com exclusive) -- On the same day the Yankees celebrated their 27th world championship with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, LeBron James made his only New York appearance of the season on a star-studded stage.
James becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010 and New Yorkers hope he will one day lead his own parade as a member of the Knicks. But on this night he simply brought an assassin's touch.
LeBron put up 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Cavaliers throttled the Knicks 100-91 before a capacity crowd of 19,763 at Madison Square Garden that included Yankees Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira.
"The atmosphere was great," said James, who sported Mars Blackmon-like glasses before and after the game. "[There were] a lot of stars in the building. It's humbling to know that you have guys like the Yankees come out and Jay-Z. It's really, really humbling. You see some of the Giants out here, I saw John Legend, Chris Rock.
"You almost feel like you're a performer sitting on the stage and they're watching you perform so it was great."
A big-time Yankees fan, LeBron stood and clapped as the baseball players were introduced during a first-half break in the action and Sinatra's "New York, New York" cascaded over the sound system.
"I got an opportunity to say congratulations to C.C., A-Rod, Robinson Cano and Joba Chamberlain," James said. "It's an unbelievable season for those guys and they deserve it."
Fresh off an 86-85 loss to Chicago 24 hours earlier, James wasted no time toying with Larry Hughes (his friend and former Cavs teammate) and Jared Jeffries.
In the first quarter he hit a 3-pointer over Hughes as the shot clock expired, triggering oohs and aahs from the crowd.
"It's hard not to feel good coming into this building, guys," James said. "If we could trade places and you guys could play, you guys would understand what it's like as a player to play in this building and to play on this court."
Later he flashed a turnaround 16-footer over Hughes.
"He made tough shots. He made jump shots. He was able to drive to the basket," said Hughes, who finished with 18 points.
When Jeffries checked in to guard James, LeBron elevated for a long jumper and then a 3-pointer that closed out the first quarter scoring with the Cavs (4-3) up 40-21.
LeBron had 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting after a first period in which the Cavs shot 73 percent.
"Larry played great defense on him. It's tough to play defense on him. I don't know how many players can stop him. Nobody can stop him," said Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari, who received some inspiring words from James about his future after the game.
The Cavs' lead ballooned to 26 points, 51-25, after Daniel Gibson (11 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter.
James went to the bench at the start of the fourth quarter with the Cavs up 77-58, and New York still couldn't make a serious run.
The Knicks cut it to 91-82 on a bucket by Al Harrington, but Mo Williams (12 points) and James hit back-to-back jumpers for a 95-82 edge.
Right now the Knicks (1-5) have no legitimate stars to pair with James should he opt to come here.
David Lee led the Knicks with 21 points and six rebounds but New York had a horrible shooting night, making just 44 percent (36-for-81) and 29 percent (8-for-28) from beyond the arc.
"It's another tough loss today, whether it's Cleveland or the Lakers or Boston or the Pacers at home the other day," Lee said. "Any loss we have is a tough one."
Gallinari (17 points) and Wilson Chandler (11), hailed as the cornerstones of the team's future, combined for 28 points on 10-for-22 shooting and never imposed their will the way James did. Harrington, the Knicks leading scorer, seemed to settle for his jumper while going 5-for-14 for 14 points.
Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron's new sidekick, had a quiet game with seven points and four boards.
Cleveland shot a cool 54 percent (38-for-71) and 41 percent (7-for-17) from deep.
The defensively-challenged Knicks gave up more than 100 points for the sixth time in six games.
James put up 50 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds during his final game here in the 2007-08 season. He then gave the Knicks 52 points and 11 assists last February. He had only 26 in the first matchup a year ago, but he sat out the fourth quarter of a blowout.
James continues to keep his options open for next summer, but says he's focused on trying to win a title in Cleveland this year.
"At the end of the day a max [free agency] deal doesn't really matter to me," he said. "To me it's all about winning."
And the New York fans hope that happens in a Knick uniform.
"We know what the fans want and he knows that, too," Harrington said. "He came in and put on a show for them and I guess they'll wait to see what happens next summer."
Loading...
nice vid and great game by the king. 5/5
derkach77 2 years ago 9
wow !!! im like king JAMES
4rikato 2 years ago 2