James, Wade, Bosh total 84 in rout of Knicks

If LeBron James enjoys dashing Knicks fans' hopes, he hasn't said so. But lately he sure has been doing a good job of it.

A spirited crowd gathered at Madison Square Garden Friday night, clearly eager to see their upstart Knicks spoil James' first appearance here with the Heat. But just as the Knicks' hopes of signing James last summer didn't go as planned, neither did this game.

Showered with boos all night, James responded in typical LeBron fashion with a triple-double - 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists - to lead the Heat to a 113-91 victory. In extending its winning streak to 11 games, the Heat handed the Knicks their second straight loss after a stretch in which they won eight straight and 13 of 14.

Amar'e Stoudemire finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds, ending his franchise-record streak of nine straight games with at least 30 points.

James reiterated before the game that the only reason he spurned the Knicks was because the Heat gave him "the best possible chance to win" with new teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. And Miami's big three was on full display, totaling 84 of Miami's 113 points.

Wade and Bosh each scored 26 points, and they did their greatest damage in the second half. The Knicks led 61-59 early in the third quarter, but the Heat responded with a 27-7 run that essentially ended any chance of a Knicks victory.

The Knicks scored only 34 points and shot 13-for-43 in the second half. "We didn't quite run as we normally do," Stoudemire said in explaining their second-half demise. "In the second half, we didn't have the energy. We didn't get too many fast-break points, didn't get out in transition."

Entering the game, coach Mike D'Antoni said his biggest concern was an emotional letdown after a hard-fought win over Denver and a last-second loss to Boston. And that's exactly what D'Antoni thinks happened to his young team in the second half. "Once we lost it," he said, "we couldn't get it back."

D'Antoni said he was encouraged by how well the Knicks played in the first half, saying they "slugged it out" in coming back from a 13-point deficit to enter halftime tied at 57. But they couldn't keep it up, something that could be the result of leaning too heavily on the starters.

The Knicks' bench contributed only 12 points, eight by Toney Douglas. D'Antoni said that's something he needs to fix, especially because it's led him to play his starters nearly 40 minutes each night. "I've got to take some minutes off the guys," he said.

Before the game, James made it clear he didn't spurn the Knicks because of the New York spotlight, saying, "There's not a spotlight I can't handle." He proved as much, scoring with ease despite getting booed nearly every time he touched the ball.

Asked about the boos after the game, he shrugged. "It's OK," he said. "I understand."

That the fans were so into the game was the latest sign of the Knicks' re-emergence on the NBA scene. But D'Antoni tried to temper expectations.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," he said. "This is awfully quick to be thrown on this young team."