Wednesday’s Cavaliers-Thunder game was not completed in time to make the early holiday deadline. A complete story with box score will appear in Friday’s sports section.
NEW YORK — July 1, 2010, could be quite a showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
For now, there’s no contest.
LeBron James can become a free agent that day, and the Knicks hope they can offer him a chance to be on a title contender.
He might not have to leave Cleveland for that.
James scored 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Cavaliers quickly took a charged-up New York crowd out of the game in a 119-101 victory Tuesday night.
The buzz was about James’ future, but he’s not ready to talk about that.
His present looks too promising.
“I don’t know if it’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m so focused on this season and what we have at task with the Cavs, it’s hard for me to even think about that date. But at the same time, you have to stay open-minded if you’re a Knicks fan.”
Delonte West added 16 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 15 for the Cavaliers, who rang up their highest point total of the season and put seven players in double figures.
The Cavaliers improved the NBA’s third-best record to 11-3.
“They don’t get caught up in that, man, and I don’t either,” James said of the free agency talk. “We hear it every day, we see it every day on TV about 2010 all the time, we still go out and take care of business. 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.”
Quentin Richardson scored 22 points and newcomer Tim Thomas had 16 for the Knicks (7-7), who dropped their fourth in five games.
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.
James started the night by saying he was flattered by the attention but focused on trying to win a title this season with the Cavs.
“It seems like they want him, but right now we’re excited that he’s a Cavalier,” guard Daniel Gibson said.
Unlike his previous visit, when the Cavaliers needed nearly all of his 50 points to beat the Knicks last March, an ordinary effort was good enough from James, who laughed and smiled throughout the easy victory.
The Knicks are a team in transition after trading Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, their two leading scorers, last Friday. Making matters worse, they lost Nate Robinson, who became their leading scorer, after he strained his groin in the second quarter. He is doubtful for Wednesday’s game at Detroit.
“I’ll be back in no time,” Robinson said. “I’m not the kind of guy who wants to sit here and be hurt. I hate it.”
James was cheered loudly during pregame introductions and every time he touched the ball by a crowd that included his buddy, rapper Jay-Z — who might prefer James goes to New Jersey, the team he partly owns. James scored 11 points in the first quarter, leading Cleveland to a 34-22 lead.
James could only chuckle and shake his head when a fan yelled “Two more years!” as he was putting on his warmup shirt before heading to the bench for the start of the second quarter.
Suns 99, Thunder 98
 
At Oklahoma City, 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 (1-14) led throughout the second half and were up by as much as 16 late in the third quarter before the Suns went on a 13-0 run.
Steve Nash had 20 points and 15 assists. Kevin Durant scored 29 points as the Thunder lost their 12th straight.
Wizards 124, Warriors 100
 
At Washington, Ed Tapscott’s coaching debut with the Wizards was much more successful than Jamal Crawford’s playing debut with Golden State.
Tapscott guided Washington 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 as the Wizards improved to 2-10 with their best scoring output of the season.
The Wizards fired Eddie Jordan on Monday and replaced him with Tapscott, who had been the team’s director of player development.
The night’s other new featured addition, Crawford, had a quiet evening in his first game since being traded by New York on Friday. Crawford started and had nine points and seven assists in 29 minutes.
Corey Maggette scored 17 to lead the Warriors, who have lost three straight.
Lakers 120, Nets 93
 
At Los Angeles, Pau Gasol had 26 points and eight rebounds and the Lakers overcame a poor shooting performance by Kobe Bryant to improve to an NBA-best 12-1.
Bryant had difficulty most of the game with Vince Carter’s defense, going 5-for-17 from the field in 28 minutes and finishing with 12 points in Los Angeles’ fifth straight victory.
Mavericks 109, Pacers 106
 
At Dallas, Jason Terry scored 29 points and the Mavericks rallied with an 18-8 run in the fourth quarter for their fifth straight victory.
Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds and Antoine Wright scored a career-high 24 for Dallas. Kidd finished with 11 points and 13 assists.

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