Lebron’s Nickel Double

Wow.

Lebron for sure. Triple double with 50 points. Unbelievable.

61 pts? I’ve seen Kobe score 81 before.

I’ve never seen a stat line like Lebron’s. Or someone look so physically imposing while playing so dominant. That has to rattle the opposing teams.

61 pts 3 assts = direct hand in roughly 67 points out of teams 126. 53%

52 pts 11 assts = direct hand in roughly 74 points out of teams 107. 69%

Tommy, when are you going to stop praising opposing players? Its kind of disheartening to read this supposed Knick blog and see positive stories about the enemy.

Two different approaches of the game, I can’t tell which was greater. LeBron James obviously had a better all-around game but the points Kobe Bryant scored were more impressive (the pump fake in the 4th quarter, the shot over Gallinari).

I can’t vote, both were equally great.

Because these perfomances were historical and belonged to the best players of this generation. Al Harrington deserves to get more credit though. He played like an all-star and kept us in the game yesterday.

Watching this game was the first time i felt like a true Knicks fan in a long time. It felt like the old Knick-Bulls matchups where Jordan put on a show every time. Also, to see the crowd into it and having the De-Fense chat on every possession in the fourth quarter was something that has been missing at the garden for years.

What happened this week is two of the most amazing performances in NBA history. These are two of the greatest players in the history of the game that came in and single-handedly beat us, if you cant tip your hat and appreciate what these two guys did this week than you really arent a true basketball fan.

The only difference is that against the Cavs, we had a legitimate shot at winning. This team just needs to hit some more layups and free throws and we can compete with anyone.

Huh?

these are historic performances and should be treated as such.

Harrington played his ass off and may have been showcasing for 2010 too.

Don’t be disheartened, be patient.

That performance was ridiculous. But the Knicks could have won last night. Kobe blew the Lakers passed the Knicks. Last night, LeBron did not blow the Knicks out of the water. Late in the 3rd quarter, the Knicks actually had the lead.

Let’s beat the Celtics tomorrow night.

Mucha- You are right. The points that Kobe scored were more impressive.

I think these two games were simply incredible. If you wanted to convince an old time NBA fan that the level of play is up again in this league you could just show him these two games and make him an instant believer. I think this game shows what many have been saying about Kobe and Lebron for a long time. Kobe is a better scorer, and prettier player maybe you can make the case for a more exciting player. But Lebron James is the better basketball player as a whole. He just does everything, he could of easily scored 75 points last night if he wanted to, but he played as a team player. He rebounds he plays D he passes the ball he is simply unreal.
As for the Knicks Harrington really played well and it’s a shame that his performance got lost in Lebron’s coming out party. Harrington more or less matched Lebron basket for basket in the first half. But he somewhat disappeared in the 4th and didn’t hit some wide open shots. Thats why Lebron is great and Harrington is simply just good.

Kobe’s was better. If the Laker game was closer, he probably would have stayed in and got 70. He didn’t miss, he was in another stratosphere.

LeBron got he triple double on the last shot of the game, if he doesn’t get that it becomes a YAAAAAWN 50-9-11 night, amazing game, but no catchy title so it doesn’t stick. Disagree? Then what do you call LeBron’s 51-8-9 game in Memphis last year (The King returns to Graceland, thank yuh, thank yuh very much)? How bout his 50-8-10 game at MSG from a year ago? No name, just LeBron drops 50. So don’t say “I’ve never seen a stat line like LeBron’s last night” because he had 2 very similar ones last year that just didn’t have the catchy title.

Don’t take this the wrong way, LeBron’s game was outstanding last night I’m not bashing the guy by any means. Kobe’s game looked effortless and the Lakers cruised in the 4th. The Knicks had a good shot at the Cavs in the 4th and in fact, it looked like the Knicks defense was picking up against LeBron down the stretch. LeBron had a few turnovers and bad shots and Knick fans thought, “Okay, we can pull this one out”. In the Laker game, the Knick fan in the 4th quarter was thinking “If Kobe throws it off the Jumbo-Tron, it’s going in and I’m not even going to be surprised, I’m just going to go home and sell my ticket on E-bay”. My bottom line: you can’t measure the game just by the stat line, if you do, LeBron wins. If you watched both games, however, it’s not even close and the answer is Kobe.

Now let’s hope the Knicks can beat the Celts again this Friday.

If you like scoring, which a lot of fans do, than Kobe was obviously more impressive. For me, I see that Kobe had 0 rebounds 0 steals and 3 assists and, well, 61.

Lebron showed across the board that he’s a complete player, which I find far more impressive, and only scored 9 less points.

Tommy, I agree that when you look just at the stat lines, LeBron wins hands down. Here are two things that I’m going to throw out there for Kobe’s case:

1) Kobe played 37 minutes to LeBron’s 44. When you do that math on that it puts Kobe at 72ish if he played 44 minutes. I hate bringing math into any aspect of my life, but this is something that always bugged me. Yes, Jordan scored 63 in the playoffs against the Celtics, but the game went to DOUBLE overtime! Doesn’t that mean anything? In the steroids era where there is talk about putting an asterisk on every baseball stat, how come everyone can just say Jordan scored 63 in a playoff game and not mention immediately that the game went to double OT? Just always bugged me.

2) Kobe’s game came first. The defensive strategy against LeBron was different than it was against Kobe. If the Knicks kept sending double teams at Kobe, he would have kicked out for some assists, probably not 11, but he averages 5, so lets give him that. The book on Kobe is to let him try to be a one man team and you can beat the Lakers, so the Knicks tried to do that and this time Kobe didn’t miss. If the LeBron game is first, both stat lines are different I’m sure. Kobe’s 61 made LeBron’s “nickel double” possible, but Kobe’s game happened because Kobe was on another planet.

I can barely see your point through your shortsighted argument. So Kobe’s night was better because he has better teammates that helped to make the game out of reach for the Knicks? I don’t think anyone yawned when he dropped 50 at the Garden last year. It was the talk of the tabloids for weeks afterwards. If you are simply making the point about the stat lines, then it is a decent one, but I did watch both games and I thought both players looked unstoppable. But I thought Lebron was most impressive. He seems to involve teammates more often and crashes the boards with gusto. If those two games were an audition for me to pick either one on a team I am creating, I take Lebron.

I have to disagree Tommy, I think both performances were equally amazing.

LeBron had the better all-around game BUT, the Knicks lost against the Cavaliers because of themselves (stupid turnovers, missed layups in the 4th quarter) but they lost against the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant who always kept us out of the game. That’s just how I see it.

Kid Tarheel, whats with the hate? The yawn was sarcastic, but seriously, do you even remember the game he had against Memphis? We’re all fans here and I understand it’s just an opinion, but I do love this argument. Let me try to clarify my point to you about why Kobe’s game was better.

The Knicks and Cavs have played 3 times this year, and the Cavs spanked the Knicks twice, then LeBron has this monster game, but it’s the closest of the 3 games by far. If the Cavs lose, than this isn’t even a debate and Kobe’s game is better…but the Cavs won, so the debate rages on.

The Lakers played their first full game after losing Bynum to injury, and they respond by demoralizing the Knicks at home. That kind of demoralization is impressive, you can’t put each players game into a vacuum and rate them, you have to judge them as a part of the game they played in. Also, both teams are 39-9 today, while the Lakers might have the slight edge for teammates, you can’t use the argument for a 39-9 team that LeBron doesn’t have the necessary help around him (granted West, Pavlovic didn’t play, but again, no Bynum).

While pitching for the Expos, Pedro had a perfect game through 9 innings but the game went to extras and he lost it in the 10th, so he never got credit for a perfect game. In team sports, how your team does makes a difference. Lakers rolled, so Kobe was better in my opinion, but let the debate roll on.

“never let a stat sheet tell me how nice i am” – phife dawg

it’s the magic/bird argument 2.0. You like Kobe or you like Lebron.

I like players who dominate a game in all facets, not just scoring. And the guy still dropped 52. How about the block on Chandler.

He’s better than kobe was at 24 and he does it all. His effort last night when the world was like “top that” was incredible, I don’t care what the score was. That is meaningless. The game was close because Al Harrington had a special game, and he didn’t against the Lakers.

The block on Chandler was sick, I still don’t know why Chandler didn’t go straight up and went for the reverse lay-up instead, but i haven’t seen a replay and i could be wrong on that. it was a great block.

kobe plays d too, but all that being said, i’ll tie my argument to this statement: if given the opportunity, i’d rather have the knicks face LeBron the way he played last night than Kobe and the way he played Monday.

now i just we come out of “dream week” 1-2, go knicks!