Associated Press
NEW YORK ó LeBron James scored 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers quickly took a charged-up New York crowd out of the game in a 119-101 victory over the Knicks on Tuesday.
Delonte West added 16 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 15 for the Cavaliers, who rang up their highest point total of the season.
Quentin Richardson scored 22 points and newcomer Tim Thomas had 16 for the Knicks.
James’ first visit to Madison Square Garden this season came just days after the Knicks made a pair of trades that cleared enough salary cap space for a potential run at him in free agency during the summer of 2010.
“We see it every day on TV about 2010 all the time, we still go out and take care of business,” James said. “We don’t worry about what’s going on. Me the leader, I can’t let that faze me because I’m leading these guys onto something that we want to accomplish, and that’s win an NBA championship.”
Wizards 124, Warriors 100
WASHINGTON ó Ed Tapscott’s coaching debut with Washington was much more successful than Jamal Crawford’s playing debut with Golden State.
Coaching his first game of any sort since a spot on the bench in his daughter’s youth league in 1993, Tapscott guided the Wizards to a blowout, breaking a five-game losing streak and avoiding the worst 12-game start in franchise history.
Caron Butler scored a season-high 35 points. Andray Blatche had season highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Antawn Jamison added 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Tapscott hadn’t been a head coach since he was working a few neighborhoods down the road at American University in 1990.
The night’s other new featured addition, Crawford, had a quiet evening in his first game since being traded by New York. He was placed in the starting and had nine points and seven assists in 29 minutes.
Suns 99, Thunder 98
OKLAHOMA CITY ó Matt Barnes hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 25.7 seconds left to complete Phoenix’s fourth-quarter rally and spoil Scott Brooks’ home debut as Oklahoma City head coach.
The Thunder had been up by as much as 16 late in the third quarter before Steve Nash rallied the Suns with a 13-0 run.
Barnes’ 3-pointer gave Phoenix its first lead of the second half. The Thunder (1-14) had two final chances to win, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both missed shots.
Lakers 120, Nets 93
LOS ANGELES ó Pau Gasol had 26 points and eight rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles overcame a poor shooting performance by Kobe Bryant to rout New Jersey and improve the NBA’s best record to 12-1.
Bryant had difficulty most of the game with Vince Carter’s defense, going 5-for-17 from the field and finishing with 12 points in the Lakers’ fifth straight win.
Mavericks 109, Pacers 106
DALLAS ó Jason Terry scored 29 points and combined with Jason Kidd to key a fourth-quarter run.
Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds. Antoine Wright scored a career-high 24 points.