James exits early as Cavaliers cow

NEW YORK: The Cleveland Cavaliers trounced the New York Knicks 119-101 on Tuesday with NBA scoring leader LeBron James pacing a balanced attack in which seven players returned double-digit scores.

James scored 26 points, despite watching the entire fourth quarter from the bench, as Cleveland (11-3) moved to within one-and-a-half games of the Boston Celtics (13-2) for the best record in the NBA's Eastern Conference. New York dropped to 7-7.

Forwards Tim Thomas and Al Harrington made their debuts for the Knicks, while Cuttino Mobley sat out the game pending the results of medical tests. All three were acquired in the past week by New York, who were outrun, outgunned and outmuscled.