CLEVELAND - LeBron James didn’t know who Walt Wesley was, but he does now.

The 25-year-old broke a franchise record that stood for 39 years by scoring 35 points in the first half and finished with 47 as the Cavaliers defeated the New York Knicks 113-106 Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

Wesley had 34 points in a half against the Cincinnati Royals on Feb. 19, 1971. He finished that game with what for a long time was a club-record 50.

James had already bested that record, scoring a career-high 56 against Toronto on March 20, 2005, but the normally basketball astute small forward still was not familiar with the franchise’s first center.

“Who? What’s his name? When did he play here?” James said, the answer to each question failing to jog his memory. “I was nowhere near even thought of being in this world at that time.”

The 6-foot-8, 250-pounder was out of this world in the first half, when he made 13 of 18 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers, and all five of his free throws to erase Wesley’s name from the record book.

“I’m sorry,” James said. “Records are made to be broken, I guess.”

The Akron native cooled considerably in the second half, going 2-of-11 from the field and scoring just six points until recording Cleveland’s last six of the game as the Cavaliers (41-11) tied an NBA season high with their 11th straight win.

“We have the best closer in the game,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

Once again playing without injured guards Mo Williams (sprained shoulder) and Delonte West (fractured ring finger), the Cavaliers led by 24 in the second quarter, were up 74-54 at intermission and still led by 22 with 3:25 to play in the third period, but the Knicks (19-31) nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback.

New York, which got 26 points from guard Nate Robinson, 20 from center David Lee and 16 off the bench from forward Al Harrington, actually had a chance to tie the game, but Chris Duhon missed a 3-pointer with 3:12 left.

James then preserved the win with six points in the final 2:56, including back-to-back jumpers for the last four points of the game.

“When a guy like LeBron gets it going, there’s not really much you can do,” Duhon said. “In some ways, you sometimes become a fan because he’s taking 3-point shots way beyond the arc. Sometimes you get starstruck and you just start to get in a daze.”

For the second time in four games, James tied an arena record by scoring 23 points in the first period. He made 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, as the Cavaliers raced to a 44-24 lead.

“LeBron had an amazing shooting and scoring first quarter,” Brown said. “That was fun to watch.”

James, who scored Cleveland’s last 16 points of the first quarter, hit three 3-pointers in the final 58.9 seconds - from 25, 32 and 32 feet - then made four more buckets early in the second period, giving him an incredible 24 points in a span of just 5:48.

“It’s something that can’t be explained,” he said. “It’s a feeling I wish I could have every game, but I know that’s not possible.”

With 9:40 still to play in the first half, James already had 31 points, matching the Knicks’ total. He went to the bench with 7:47 to play in the second period and didn’t return until the 3:38 mark, but scored four more points down the stretch to break Wesley’s mark.

At that point, it looked like the seventh-year pro might also break his own franchise record for points in a game.

“I was actually joking with him today that he should go for 60 points,” Cleveland center Shaquille O’Neal said. “He said he didn’t want to do that.”

James also finished with eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals, making him the first player to post that many points, rebounds, assists and steals in a game since Rick Barry, who had 64, 10, nine and five, respectively, for Golden State on March 26, 1974.

“My game won’t let me,” James said of getting selfish and seeing how many points he can score. “I can go out and make shots and make shots … but as soon as I see somebody open, I give the ball up. That’s just my game.”

James had just three points in the third period, those coming on a 3-pointer after the Knicks had pulled within 88-77 with 57.7 seconds to play. He was 1-of-7 from the field in the quarter and did not go to the line as Cleveland played passively and without much focus.

That trend continued in the fourth period, as the Cavaliers followed their 74-point first half with a 39-point effort in the second, but James rescued his team down the stretch, capping another memorable performance against the Knicks.

“It’s nothing personal,” James said. “This is a business.”

Tip-ins

The Knicks played without shooting guard Larry Hughes, who strained his big toe in a loss to Milwaukee on Friday. Hughes is averaging 9.6 points on .366 shooting, including .289 on 3-pointers.

• O’Neal had 19 points for the Cavaliers, but collected just one rebound in 26 minutes. He did block back-to-back shots on the same possession when New York was making its late run.

• Cleveland’s Daniel Gibson had a season-high seven assists but scored just six points, ending his string of double-figure games at seven.

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Cavaliers 113, Knicks 106

NEW YORK (106): Gallinari 5-10 0-0 13, Chandler 2-7 2-2 6, Lee 10-14 0-0 20, Robinson 9-18 3-3 26, Jeffries 3-4 5-5 12, Duhon 2-6 0-0 5, Harrington 6-14 2-2 16, Hill 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 41-78 12-12 106.

CLEVELAND (113): James 17-31 7-7 47, Hickson 5-7 0-0 10, O’Neal 8-13 3-5 19, Gibson 2-6 0-0 6, Parker 4-6 1-2 11, Ilgauskas 3-6 0-0 6, Moon 1-2 1-1 3, Varejao 3-5 0-0 6, J.Williams 1-4 2-2 5. Totals 44-80 14-17 113.

New York                                24  30  26  26       -  106
Cleveland                                44  30  20  19       -  113

3-Point Goals-New York 12-27 (Robinson 5-7, Gallinari 3-5, Harrington 2-8, Jeffries 1-2, Duhon 1-3, Chandler 0-2), Cleveland 11-22 (James 6-12, Parker 2-3, Gibson 2-3, J.Williams 1-4). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-New York 35 (Lee 8), Cleveland 41 (James 8). Assists-New York 27 (Duhon 8), Cleveland 22 (James 8). Total Fouls-New York 15, Cleveland 10. A-20,562 (20,562).

NEXT UP

• WHO: Cleveland vs. New Jersey
• WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
• WHERE: The Q
•  TV/RADIO: FS Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

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