LeBron James catches fire Saturday night to help the Cavs extend win streak to 11 in 113-106 victory over the New York Knicks. James had the single best half in Cavaliers’ history scorching the Knicks with 35 first half points, overtaking the previous record of 34 held by Walt Wesley.
Reminiscent to the show he put on in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals scoring 25 straight points, James poured in 24 consecutive Saturday night in a span of 5:29. “My God,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He didn’t even come close to missing.” James nailed four 3’s in the final 2 minutes of the first quarter to give the Cavs another huge opening stint lead 44-24.
It didn’t stop there as the Cavs cruised on throughout the second, and amassed a jaw-dropping 74 first half points. At one point the Cavs built an almost insurmountable 24 point lead but the Knicks battled back, as the Cavs seemed to slow up their intensity ,to pull to within 3 points with less than 3 minutes to play. Then James finished what he started by knocking down back to back jumpers and leading the Cavs to the win.
Shaq continued his all-star like play dropping in 19 points. J.J. Hickson and Anthony Parker were the only other Cavaliers to score double figures(Hickson 10, Parker 11). LeBron stuffed the entire stat sheet scoring 47 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals.
The 11th straight win ties Cleveland with Boston and L.A. with the longest streak of the year, which the Cavs should have no trouble grabbing their 12th as the next game is against the dismal New Jersey Nets.