NEW YORK -- LeBron James scored 33 points in his only visit to Madison Square Garden this season, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night. One night after managing just 42 second-half points in an ugly home loss to Chicago, the Cavaliers rang up 40 in the first quarter, leaving New York fans with little left to do besides cheer for the Yankees in attendance and enjoy another mesmerizing performance by James. He added nine assists and eight rebounds, but fell just shy of passing Kobe Bryant as the active scoring leader at the Garden. James improved his average to 30.4 points, with Bryant averaging 30.5 in 11 visits, according to STATS LLC James had scored 50 or more in two of his last three visits, joining Michael Jordan as the only visiting players with multiple 50-point games at the current building. Mo Williams scored 12 points for the Cavaliers, who have won six in a row against the Knicks and four straight at the Garden, where James loves to perform. New Yorkers are desperate for him to make it his full-time home when he becomes a free agent next summer, but the Knicks continue to offer nothing on the court that would make him consider a switch. As it is, he has as many victories at MSG this season as the Knicks, who fell to 1-5 overall. David Lee scored 21 points and former Cavs guard Larry Hughes had 18 for the Knicks, who played their first nationally televised home game since March 19, 2006, and showed they are still miles from being ready for prime time. James said he was still sore from a couple of falls in Thursday's 86-85 home loss, but vowed that wouldn't prevent him from playing the way he always does. Just to prove it, he then nearly outscored the entire Knicks team in the first quarter. James shot 8 of 9 in the period, with his second 3-pointer coming just before the buzzer to give him 19 points and make it 40-21. The Cavs made 16 of 22 shots (73 percent), closing the quarter with a 17-2 run that basically wrapped it up early. Before the second quarter started, the Yankees fan then went to the sideline and joined the crowd that included his pal Jay-Z in a standing ovation for Alex Rodriguez and six other members of the World Series champions who came onto the court between periods. James said before the game he wouldn't think about free agency until July, believing his team could contend for a title this season. The Cavs haven't been showing that yet, coming to New York with only a 3-3 record. They looked like championship material against the Knicks, whose defensive effort had to be disheartening to Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and Larry Johnson, who were in the crowd. They played for the franchise back when defense was their trademark. The Knicks did cut it to single digits with under 4 minutes to play, but James set up Williams for a basket, then knocked down a turnaround jumper to make it 95-82 with 2:47 remaining. Game notes Former Cleveland ace CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira were among the Yankees who came on the floor after the first quarter. The team celebrated its title with a parade through Lower Manhattan earlier Friday. James said he was asleep and didn't watch. Former Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams, now a musician who has been nominated for a Latin Grammy, played the national anthem on his guitar, and Reggie Jackson also was in the crowd. ... J.J. Hickson made his first start of the season at forward for the Cavaliers, with Anderson Varejao coming off the bench for the first time. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

CLEVELAND -- Luol Deng scored 15 points and helped stop LeBron James on a drive in the final seconds as the Chicago Bulls ended Cleveland's three-game winning streak with an 86-85 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night. Derrick Rose had 14 points and 11 assists and John Salmons added 14 points for the Bulls, who handed the Cavs their second loss at home. Cleveland, which lost to Boston in its opener, only lost two regular-season games and went 45-3 at Quicken Loans Arena last season. James, who led the Cavaliers with 25 points, lost the ball out of bounds with 3.2 seconds to go after powering his way to the basket. He drew contact on the play from both Deng and Joakim Noah but the officials didn't feel he was fouled.
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CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 27 points, Shaquille O'Neal added a season-high 21 while wearing out Washington's big men and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their third straight, beating the Wizards 102-90 on Tuesday night. The Cavs trailed by 18 in the second quarter before turning up their defense and relying on their superstar combo of James and O'Neal to win their sixth straight at home over the Wizards. Mo Williams scored 15 and Daniel Gibson 14 for the Cavs, who made nine 3-pointers in the second half -- four in the fourth quarter when James was out. Williams and Gibson were a combined 7-for-9 on 3s. Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas scored 22 apiece to lead the Wizards. O'Neal's integration into their offense has been a slow process for the Cavs, but they are starting to figure out how to best use the perennial All-Star center, who came over in a June trade from Phoenix. O'Neal had easily his best game since coming to Cleveland. He made 7 of 9 field goals, 7 of 10 free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and put Washington's frontline in foul trouble. He also endeared himself to Cleveland fans by flattening Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson on a drive in the first half. Stevenson has been a pest to the Cavs, engaging in a war of words with James in the playoffs two years ago. The Cavs have been using the 7-foot-1 O'Neal and his 7-foot-3 backup, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, together with mixed results. But the pair are getting more comfortable and confident with every second they spend on the floor and have the potential to be a matchup nightmare for any team. Cleveland only led 78-73 after three, but the Cavs pushed their lead to 94-79 by making four 3s as James rested on the bench. James only played four minutes in the fourth quarter. Butler, back after missing one game with a bruised left knee, scored 17 in the first half but he and his teammates cooled off after halftime and fell into a bad habit of rushing shots. Cleveland trailed by 39-21 with 9:19 to go in the second quarter and were still down 12 when James re-entered the game with 7:35 left before half. But with James scoring 10 points, Gibson hitting two 3-pointers and O'Neal scoring eight and drawing fouls inside, the Cavs were within 54-50 at halftime. The Wizards had no answer for O'Neal and the Cavs used it to their advantage. They slowed the game down and pounded the ball inside to their big man, forcing JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche and Brendan Haywood to hack or pay. McGee picked up four fouls in less than 10 minutes. Game notes James did not vote and wanted to stay out of any discussion on Issue 3, a proposal to allow casinos in Ohio that was strongly supported by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. "I don't want to get involved in that," James said with a laugh. "That's a sensitive subject in the NBA these days." ... During a timeout, Butler walked to midcourt and hugged a young couple who got engaged while the teams were huddling. ... Cavs G Delonte West was indicted on additional weapons and traffic charges stemming from his Sept. 17 arrest in Maryland. He scored just four points in 20 minutes but was active at both ends. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press