Cavs Edge Knicks in Season Opener

On Friday night, in the Knicks’ season-opener at Cleveland, LeBron James showed New York why people call him the King.

Playing with a major chip on their shoulder after dropping their home opener two nights earlier, the Cavs looked more like the team that went to last season’s NBA Finals in holding off the Knicks 110-106. And they couldn’t have done it without a tremendous, 45-point performance from their superstar.

James was simply unstoppable on Friday, denying the Knicks a win they had worked so hard to earn. Instead , New York will have to wait at least until Sunday night’s home opener vs. Minnesota to get into the victory column.

It wasn’t just the 45 points that made James’ night so remarkable. He also contributed seven rebounds and seven assists, and got some valuable assistance from Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, who thrilled the home crowd with 24 points off 6 three-pointers. Gibson simply could not miss at times, particularly down the stretch, as Cleveland managed to keep the determined Knicks at bay.

Coming off a season in which they improved by 10 victories, the Knicks are looking to build up many more wins this season en route to the playoffs, where they expect to make noise. On Friday, they were reminded just how hard they will have to work to achieve that goal, but certainly played well enough to win the game in Cleveland if the Cavs didn’t happen to possess one of the NBA’s supreme talents in James. While even James can’t do it alone, the help he got from Gibson was just enough to push the Cavs to victory.

Only 22 years old and already in his fifth NBA season, James now has the experience to go with his extraordinary talent and physical abilities. He proved that last year by carrying a surprising Cavs team to the Eastern Conference title, and he proved it again on Friday, teaming with Gibson to reactivate the formula that served Cleveland so well in last year’s playoffs.

James and Gibson managed to spoil a great effort and encouraging performances from Eddy Curryand Zach Randolph up front and Jamal Crawford in the backcourt, as the Knicks got just about everything they wanted from their season-opener except a win.

The Knicks tried everything to stop James on Friday, as they consistently switched defensive looks and even employed the zone several times in the second half. But their efforts to keep James from getting to the basket were in vain, because the King was not going to be denied.

With New York so focused on James, open shots became available for his teammates, including the hot-handed Gibson. The fact that James’ only weak spot — free-throw shooting — wasn’t even a problem on Friday showed just how dominant he can be. Alhough he had difficulty from the charity stripe last year, shooting under 70 percent, he nailed 16 free throws on Friday and was 4-for-4 from the line in the game’s waning seconds to put the Knicks away despite their hard-fought performance.

On the other hand, free throws really were the Achilles Heel for the Knicks Friday night, as New York shot only 60 percent from the line in Cleveland. Had that percentage been even slightly higher, it would have been a much happier flight home. Still, knowing how close they came to beating the defending conference champions on their home court should help the Knicks build up confidence early in this new season.