Bright Lights, Bad Defense.

If you missed the first half of the Cavs/Knicks game tonight, I suggest you find a buddy that DV-R’d it or a torrent of the game or something (not that I’d ever advocate anything illegal!).

LeBron James wasted no time, stepping up and delivering in the first quarter. In the first 12 minutes of the game, James cruised on the porous Knicks defense, scoring 23 points and recording 5 assists. Still hot from the first frame, LeBron stuck around for the first four minutes of the second quarter, finally grabbing some rest after four more field goals and a total of 31 points.

Here are some noteworthy stats from the first half.

LeBron James scored 35 points in the first half on 13-18 (72.2%) shooting. There are two very special things here. First, the 35 points is good enough for a Cavaliers franchise record for most points in a half, passing the 34 points scored by Walt Wesley back in 1971. Secondly, over the team’s 10 game winning streak, LeBron has scored 35 or more points in only three games, never surpassing 37 points over the streak. Not a bad half, indeed.

LeBron’s 23 first quarter points tie a season high from when he went absolutely insane against the Los Angeles Clippers just three games ago. Tonight marks the third time this season that James has scored at least 20 points in the first quarter.

Similarly, this marks the third time that LeBron has recorded at least 12 points and 4 assists in the first quarter of a game this season. One of the other occurrences was in New York, when James scored 19 points and dished out 5 assists. The Cavaliers are now +41 in first quarters that see LeBron score 12+ and record 4+ assists (+13.7 per first Q).

Lastly, tonight marks the eleventh time that LeBron James has scored at least 12 points in the first quarter. The Cavs are now +91 (+8.3 per first Q) in margin when James comes out scoring at least 12 points. Even better, in the ten games prior to tonight, the Cavaliers are 10-0 when James drops a dozen in the first, winning those games by a margin of 12.9 points per game.

Also worth noting, the 74 points scored by the Cavaliers in the first half tonight is also a season high, but falls 9 points shy of a franchise record.

Bright Lights, Bad Defense.