By Tennie Sumague
EBC New York Bureau
NEW YORK (Eagle News) – Lebron James saved his best shot for last, silencing the sold out Madison Square Garden crowd with a step back 3-point shot over Kristaps Porzingis with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers from 23 points down and stun the Knicks 104-101 Monday night.
An array of boos filled the arena throughout the game for James, who heavily criticized the Knicks organization for passing up Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. for Frank Ntilikina during the NBA draft last June over the weekend.
Things heated up early at the end of the first quarter after a James’ dunk led to a run in with Ntilikina. As James stared down at the rookie guard, a heated exchange between James and Knicks center, Enes Kanter followed, resulting in technical fouls for both players.
Irked by James’ comments, Kanter defended Ntilikina and wouldn’t allow anyone, including James, disrespect him nor his teammates.
“He’s a rookie,” said Kanter. “You call yourself ‘King’ or whatever. But you can’t mess with a rookie like that. If you’re going to mess with [someone], go mess with the grown men. I’ll die for my teammates because I see this team, this organization like my family. Nobody is going to mess with it.”
The Knicks held the Cavs to 13 second quarter points, leading 51-38 at the half and increased their lead by as many as 23 points during the third. As the Cavs were down by 15 at the end of the quarter, coach Tyronn Lue pulled all five starters out, including James and went with the bench to start the fourth.
Shooting poorly on the 3-point line through three quarters, the Cavs stormed through with back to back 3-pointers by JR Smith and Kyle Korver to cut the deficit to a basket with 3:25 left. After Porzingis missed two free throws, Channing Frye tied the game at 97 with a three-point shot.
Fans booed loudly to distract James the last 90 seconds of the game. However, James proved why he is king in his “favorite playground” with a heroic three-point shot over Porzingis that gave the Cavs their first lead since the first quarter and secured the win.
“It is never another game in the Garden. This is the best basketball arena in the World to play in,” said LeBron after the game. I am happy to be part of this and their crowd is great. Their fans are amazing. To be an opposing guy, it is a treat.”
James finished the night with 23 points,nine rebounds and 12 assists as the Cavs shot nine three pointers to cap a 43-point fourth quarter. Kyle Korver scored 19 of his 21 points, including five three-pointers in the fourth and Dwyane Wade added 15 off the bench.
“Guys off the bench came in and were very resilient. They were phenomenal. D-Wade [Dwyane Wade] Channing [Frye] Cedi [Osman], Kyle [Korver] and JG [Jeff Green]. They came out and played with a lot of effort and energy and got us back in the game,” James added in regards to the late fourth quarter comeback.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a team best 28 points and 10 rebounds and Kanter and Porzingis each added 20 points for the Knicks, who view the loss as a lesson learned to improve on finishing these games.
“We fought hard the whole game,” said Porzingis on the loss. “I think what separated them from us was their experience. We don’t have that yet. A lot of things didn’t go our way…they used that. It was a tough one. We wanted to win this game.”
(Eagle News Service)
