James' 52 points just part of triple-double

NEW YORK - Not quite Kobe Bryant. Definitely vintage LeBron James.

James scored a season-high 52 points in his 21st career triple-double, joined Michael Jordan as the only visitors with multiple 50-point games at the present Madison Square Garden, and led Cleveland to a 107-102 victory over New York on Wednesday night.

Two nights after Bryant set a record at the present building with 61 points, James was on pace to break it after scoring 20 in the first quarter.

His scoring eventually tailed off a bit, especially after he briefly left the game in the fourth quarter after cramping up. But the skills that make him perhaps the NBA's premier all-around player remained throughout.

"I don't go out there for the numbers; I just play my game," James said. "You guys seen every phase of my game tonight, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists and defensively just trying to attack the opposing team.

"I never thought you could look at the box score and see somebody with 50 with a triple-double, but it's happened."

James added 11 assists and 10 rebounds, becoming the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975 to have a triple-double in a 50-point game. James grabbed his final rebound with less than two seconds left, then tumbled out of bounds as time expired.

"A pretty impressive triple-double," Cleveland's Wally Szczerbiak said. "I bet his fantasy owners are pretty happy."

They were similar numbers to James' game in New York last March, when he finished with 50 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.

Jordan is the only other visiting player to twice score 50 here, with a high of 55 that was the opponent record before Bryant broke it Monday night.

"The sad thing is that I'm sure LeBron said that it's no big deal to get 61 points," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I'll just get a triple-double. (Kobe) didn't do that."

Unlike Monday, when the MSG crowd loudly cheered for Bryant, the fans were behind the Knicks in this one.

They responded with a spirited performance after being blown out in the previous two meetings with Cleveland - James didn't even play in the fourth quarter of either - and were down only 1 with two minutes to play.

James then scored on a drive to give him 50 points, and set up Ilgauskas for a bucket that gave the Cavs breathing room at 104-100 with 52 seconds remaining.