It was very obvious the moment King James set foot on the Madison Square Garden for his first and only visit this year, MSG is really where he wants to be. From the very first quarter, LeBron went out of his way have his own victory parade on his own. He started out a first quarter the way Michael Jordan started out his own first in the infamous “Double Nickel” back in 1995.

“LeBron’s first eight minutes were ridiculous,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “A freight train coming at you.”

The Knicks could have had six men on the court and they were not going to stop LeBron’s special night. Normally not a great jump shooter, James was fading away and hitting wet jumpers that would make Larry Bird proud. There was no other way to say it but LeBron was in the “zone”! He would score 19 first quarter points and also contribute six assists.  James capped the quarter by faking out Jared Jeffries at the perimeter and drained a three pointer that everyone in the building knew it was going in.

Could it have been more ironic that LeBron’s favorite baseball, the Yankees, were sitting courtside still feeling the high of their World Series victory. Right after the first quarter ended, the Garden acknowledged the presence of  Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, and Robinson Cano. As they made their way to center court to wave to the adoring New York crowd, who do you think was among the crowd who gave the Yankees a standing ovation?  Of course, none other King Janes who had as a big smile as a little kid at the candy store. He would not have wanted to be any other place in the world than Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

He was swishing jumpers, driving to the basket like a monster, and providing his teammates with the most beautiful no look passes you will ever see. As he sat down for the first half of the second quarter, LeBron was celebrating anytime his team scored a basket. He was dancing to any hip hop song that came on and was seen talking to many friends in the crowd. It’s nice to be the King, ain’t it?

This night was not about the pathetic Knicks who were easily defeated by Cleveland 100-91. It’s about the dream scenario about what would happen if New York ever had the NBA’s best player. As great as Partick Ewing was for his career, he was near at the top as one of the top players in the NBA. LeBron would easily take the cake as the greatest player ever to put on a Knicks uniform.

If that was not enough, LeBron went out of his way to talk to Knicks second year forward, Daniilo Gallinari. Gallinari, who never met James before, has shown flashes of brilliance so far this season that has caught the attention of James. He scored 17 points last night and has made Donnie Walsh look pretty good in making him the 6th pick in the 2008 draft.

“He just told me to keep working hard and keep taking care of my back with stretching,” Gallinari said. “He’s a great guy, great person. We talked before the game and after the game.”

It’s a pretty good indication that New York is in his radar because Danillo could be that guy LeBron needs to win a title in New York . To have never talked to the young Gallinari before last night can only be a good thing for Donnie Walsh.

But first things first, the fans still have 76 more games to go before this looming nightmare Knicks season is over. But the dream is not far from reality!

Johnny Damon, playing in his 2000^th career game hit his second home run of the young season in the sixth inning, a solo shot once again to right field which has become a familiar place for the home run ball in the new ballpark. The run increased the Yankees lead to 5-2.

Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte was staked to an early lead in the second inning as the team scored four runs off Oakland starting pitcher Dana Eveland who got the loss, his first of the season.

The game also marked the return of former Yankee Jason Giambi to the Bronx. Giambi, batting third, received a standing ovation when he came to bat in the first inning. And if it weren’t for a spectacular running catch by Brett Gardner, Giambi would have had his first extra base hit at the new Yankee Stadium.

More importantly it was the good pitching of Pettitte that provided a well deserved rest for the bullpen. Manager Joe Girardi went to the pen twice using Brian Bruney and Mariano Rivera in the ninth who got his fourth save of the season,

“Andy understands what it takes to pitch on the mound at Yankee Stadium,” said Girardi. “He grinds it out, gave us seven strong innings.”  Pettitte threw seven strong innings in his third start of the season. He gave up nine hits and two runs, allowing no walks and failed to strike out a batter.

Brian Bruney came in for Pettitte and in the eighth inning allowed a run on an RBI single from Jack Cust. The hit was the first hit off Bruney in 22 innings dating back to last season.

“You realize the ball is flying out,” said Pettitte about the influx of home runs that have been hit, “but the best thing to do is block it out.” Pettitte added, “George (catcher Jorge Posada) called a good game, mixed it up for me and Gardner made that good play and I adjusted the fastball.”

The Yankees won their first ever night game at the new Stadium, and third of their last four. “We have played some pretty tough games and been able to bounce back,” said Girardi no doubt referring to the 22-4 loss at the hands of Indians this past Saturday.

Pettitte, who owns the most April wins in franchise history, marked his first start without a strikeout since September of 2007 at Baltimore. And Rivera recorded his 57th save of a Pettitte victory, tying Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch for the all-time lead in win-save combinations since the save became an official statistic in 1969.

Said Girardi about the record, “It’s a lot of longevity the way they take care of themselves.”   The Yankees conclude their first home stand of the season Wednesday afternoon closing the series with Oakland before heading on the road that will take them Boston and Detroit.

CC Sabathia (1-1) will make his fourth start of the season opposing (0-2) lefty Brett Anderson at 1:05pm.