Knicks Stand and Gape as James Delivers
"The steady erosion of the Knicks' season, and even of their dignity, accelerated Saturday afternoon, pushed along by the league's brightest young star and perhaps by simple momentum.
LeBron James dunked and dazzled the Knicks into early submission, and the Cleveland Cavaliers laughed and strutted their way to a 104-79 rout at Gund Arena, leaving the listless Knicks in disarray.
A national television audience stood witness as their losing streak grew to a season-worst four games, and their record sank to 16-17. They are below .500 for the first time since Dec. 10, and the potential for a shake-up is growing by the hour.
''We've got to change it right now,'' said Coach Lenny Wilkens, whose job security grows weaker as the streak lengthens. ''This has got to be the end of it.''
The skid is the Knicks' worst since a six-game losing streak last February, but what is most alarming is the way they are losing. In the past three losses -- to Sacramento, Miami and Cleveland -- the Knicks have been outscored by 173-118 in the first half.
They played no semblance of transition defense on Saturday, allowing a parade of Cavaliers to drive and dunk to a 67-36 halftime lead. They never got closer than 22 points in the second half.
No one needed to be reminded that Isiah Thomas, the team president, is monitoring every inch of the slide.
''The way we played tonight, I'm concerned,'' point guard Stephon Marbury said. ''I don't think Isiah is going to tolerate that. I don't think Coach is going to tolerate it.''
If body language could be translated into words, every Knicks step, stumble and blank expression would have been unprintable.
During an early timeout, Marbury slapped angrily at the ball. By the fourth quarter, he was glued to the bench, a towel on his head, examining his fingernails as the network camera zoomed in.
Trevor Ariza watched in bewilderment as James glided by for dunk after dunk in the first half.
Wilkens's hands rarely left his hips. The game was over in the second quarter. By halftime, two Cavaliers reserves, Lucious Harris and Sasha Pavlovic, had combined for as many points (22) as the Knicks' starting five.
The Knicks' next two games are at home, on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers (14-17) and on Tuesday against the New Orleans Hornets (3-29).
''You care about this team, you care about this uniform that you're wearing, you've got to respect it and you've got to go out there and play with pride,'' said Jerome Williams, the team's defensive conscience. ''Tonight, I don't think we did that.''
James scored 22 points in 32 minutes and seemed unaffected by the plastic face mask he wore to protect a left-eye contusion. The Cavaliers seemed unhindered by their throwback mustard-yellow uniforms, which appeared to be borrowed from Ronald McDonald's closet.
Cleveland converted 74.4 percent of its field-goal attempts in the first half, mostly because the Cavaliers took nearly every one of their shots from within two feet of the rim. In the Knicks' locker room afterward, players lectured one another about effort and defense, although all insisted they were still unified.
''Nothing heated,'' Kurt Thomas said. ''It's all about how you define heated. You say heated to me, I think blows. No, no blows were thrown.''
Marbury and Allan Houston combined for just 16 points, and Houston went 3 for 14 from the field. Thomas went 4 for 10, and the lack of reliable outside shooting kept the paint clogged all day.
Cleveland's 67 points in the first half were its season high, although short of the 75 points that Dallas scored against the Knicks last month.
Williams said it would be unfair for Wilkens to take the brunt of the losing streak.
''As a group, I think all of us take the blame,'' Williams said. ''It's not on the coaching staff. It's as a group, as players, as coach, everybody. It's not his fault.''
Williams added: ''Some things you just can't coach. You can't coach a guy if he doesn't get back on defense. That's effort.
''We're all paid, the checks are coming, we've got to do our jobs. That's the bottom line.''
REBOUNDS
Mike Sweetney rested his sprained right ankle again on Saturday but said he hoped to play Tuesday night when the Hornets are at the Garden. ''That's my goal,'' he said. Sweetney shot flat-footed before Saturday's game, and he said the swelling had gone down significantly. He is considered doubtful for Sunday's home game against Portland.
Coach Lenny Wilkens was among a group honored before tip-off as the Cavaliers commemorated the franchise's three 50-victory seasons and five playoff appearances from 1986 to 1993. Wilkens was the coach throughout that span.
The Coney Island cousins Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair will face each other as pros for the first time on Sunday, when the Trail Blazers are in New York. Telfair, a 19-year-old rookie, is averaging 4.4 points and 10.2 minutes as the Blazers' third-string point guard. ''It's harder,'' Marbury said of Telfair's reserve role. ''If he was starting, I think he would have progressed way more than what he has right now. But it's just going to make him hungrier.''
Five Knicks will donate a total of $32,000 to Unicef's tsunami relief fund, based on their scoring in Saturday's game. Marbury (7 points), Allan Houston (9), Moochie Norris (2), Vin Baker (2) and Nazr Mohammed (12) agreed to donate $1,000 for every point they scored.
PRO BASKETBALL"