The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the New York Knicks behind LeBron James' 23 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists on Monday night (November 13), but as sensational as their 104-101 comeback win was, it may not have been the biggest story of the night. LeBron may have gotten the last laugh, but the Knicks earned their respect in the 104-101 game, and they did so by demanding it as early as the first quarter when a couple of New York's players stepped up to The King.
With just over 40 seconds in the quarter, LeBron slammed home an alley-oop to put Cleveland on top. While transitioning back up court, he bumped into Frank Ntilikina, and rather than move past the rookie, LeBron stood and waited for him to gather himself. Ntilikina seemed to get in his feelings about the way the moment played out and pushed his elder twice before Enis Kanter came over to take the situation off of his hands. Kanter then became embroiled in a faceoff with LeBron.
Considering Lebron is coming off of a weekend during which he inferred that the Knicks should have drafted Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. over Ntilikina, it appeared that the stage was set for the possibility of some kind of confrontation. The Knicks players have been highly supportive of Ntilikina and have come to his defense since James made the comments on Saturday.
Source: Twitter
