NEW YORK – There was news at every turn. LeBron James was inside the Cleveland Cavaliers’ locker room, at one end of the corridor, and Stephon Marbury was addressing a similar audience within the walls of the Knicks’ room.

The few minutes presented a study in contrast. James talked about success. Marbury spoke about failure. One hour after the sideshow concluded, the game was played. James, Cleveland’s most talented player, took his position on the court. Marbury, New York’s most talented player, took his position on the New York bench.

As it turned out, Marbury had one of the better views to watch James in action.

James tallied 50 points, with 10 assists and eight rebounds, as the Cavaliers rolled to a 119-105 victory at the Garden on Wednesday night. The 50-point effort was the already the fifth of his career.

The Cavs’ No. 23 -who, fittingly, left the court the floor with 23 seconds remaining- became the first NBA player with such a statline since Kareem Abdul Jabbar [50 points/15 boards/11 assists in January 1975]. By chance, the last player with 50 point, 10 assist game was Marbury, then with the 2001 Phoenix Suns.

“I’ve always dreamed about playing well in this building,” James said to a horde of media types afterward. “To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world, it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”

James hit 16 of 30 shots, including seven of 13 from distance. After opening with a two-point quarter, James unleashed 18 in the second, including a 34’ three-pointer, from the lip of the half-court circle, as the first half expired. He added another 17 in the third, responding loudest when the Knicks threatened to take a double-digit lead.

James scored his 38th point at the 7:52 mark. During a brief interlude, he turned to Spike Lee for a little give and take. James, who later claimed he was not suggesting a 50-point game to the famed producer, stopped the show anyway.

With 3:50 on the clock, and Cleveland ahead by one, LBJ hit a 3 from the left baseline. Thirty-eight seconds later, at 102-98, James hit from the left of center.

He was fast becoming a late model of Reggie Miller, the Indiana Pacer legend who tormented both the Knicks and celebrity row whenever the two teams met.

Another trey, at 2:07, provided an 11-point margin.

Then, James sealed the deal with 1:04 remaining. He had fifty points on the nose.

With 30.2 on the clock, and the Cavs’ ahead by 11, Damon Jones fired another three-ball. Nate Robinson had seen enough. Thoroughly upset by Cleveland’s decision not to simply run out the clock, the 5’9” guard was called for goaltending as Jones’ attempt was blocked on its descent.

Whenever James is in town, it is never good news for the Knicks. Except that, at this point in the season, with a seven consecutive season sub-.500 season already in the bag, there is very little to play for.

James, a perennial MVP candidate, is the star player that New York desperately needs. He is the two-time reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month, having recently copped the February award with averages of 30.2 points [on .498 shooting], 8.9 rebounds and 8.5 assists. over 14 games.

During January, Cleveland won 11 of 14 games; last month, the Cavs finished 8-6.

In February, James scored at least 25 points in each game, and topped all conference players with 8.5 assists. He hit for nine double-doubles, and averaged 8.9 rebounds per game. From February 19-24, James posted four consecutive double-doubles, including two triple-doubles. This was the second time during 2007-08 in which he had consecutive triple-doubles, equaling a mark set by Magic Johnson twenty years earlier.

James also tallied his 10,000th career point on February 27 in Boston, thus becoming the youngest player in NBA history to achieve that milestone.

“I just live for the fourth quarter,” the Cavaliers’ the league’s leading scorer [30.3 points per game] said. “When the games are close, that’s when I go to work.”

In two previous games against the Knicks this season, James had 77 points, 15 boards, and 13 assists. On December 19, at Madison Square Garden, he finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six steals.

Still, New York won by 18.

Even with Cleveland’s league-wide success, the defending conference champions had only won once in their last six visits to the Garden, and were 5-14 here since the start of the 1997-98 season.

  E-mail this story |  Printer-friendly |  Discuss