LeBron shines under bright lights of Big Apple

Rookie phenom LeBron James added 22 points for the Cavaliers, who have won four straight versus the Knicks. Carlos Boozer chipped in 14 points and 17 boards, as Cleveland earned its second consecutive win overall.

"[Ilgauskas] was outstanding," Cleveland head coach Paul Silas said. "Each game he gets better."

Stephon Marbury scored 20 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Knicks. Kurt Thomas had 16 points, while Tim Thomas and Shandon Anderson both had 10 for New York, which has dropped two in a row and four of its last five.

Cleveland opened the second half on an 11-4 run and made it 55-44 after Ilgauskas made a free throw to complete a three-point play. Ilgauskas later added a basket to push the margin to 66-55. The Cavs then carried a 70-55 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Ilgauskas scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers, who took a 78-56 lead with about 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the game.

"Once he gets going he’s tough to stop," Knicks coach Lenny Wilkens said. "I thought we were going to do a better job on him."

New York showed some life and closed within 81-68 thanks to a 10-0 run with three minutes to go. The Knicks, though, later cut the lead to 88-84 on consecutive layups by Marbury with 17.7 seconds remaining. Boozer was then fouled on the inbounds pass and made both shots for a six-point lead.

After a New York basket, James was sent to the foul line and drained both attempts to seal the win. Cleveland has won five of the last eight meetings with the Knicks and halted a five-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden.

James, making his MSG debut, sank a pair from the free throw line to give Cleveland a 12-10 lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter. New York came back and later grabbed a 24-20 lead on a floater by Anderson with less than two minutes remaining. The Cavs, however, tied the game at 24 apiece after 12 minutes of play.

"I was looking forward to it," James said of his first trip to the legendary New York court. "We were able to hold on get the win."

Boozer’s dunk almost two minutes into the second quarter staked Cleveland to a 31-26 lead. The Knicks then scored eight of the next nine points for a slim 34-32 edge. Both squads continued to battle with Cleveland holding a 44-40 lead at halftime.

Ilgauskas had 18 points and 11 rebounds at the break, while Anderson and Kurt Thomas recorded eight points apiece for New York.