Pretty please?

Signed: The Knicks.

If they had only one chance to make a first impression and convince LeBron James he ought to gobble up some of the 2010 salary-cap room they just created to pursue him, forget about it after he and the Cavaliers smoked the Knicks, 119-101, Tuesday.

One caveat, though: Most of Tuesday's Knicks shouldn't be around when he becomes a free agent July 1, 2010, what he called "one of the biggest days in free agent history in the NBA."

This, though, was a day when the Knicks resembled the teams coached by Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas, not Mike D'Antoni, about whom James raved after their time together at the Olympics.

This was also a day when the Knicks lost Nate Robinson to a strained right groin that, considering how most such injuries go, could sideline him beyond Tuesday's second half.

But James and company didn't have to strain much to put this one away, with the Chosen One producing 26 points in just 30 minutes about as easy as can be before a crowd that turned on its team more than it showered him with love ? although he did suck some air out of the building with a vicious third-quarter dunk.

The Knicks, meanwhile, drained the playoff-like buzz out of the joint with clearly their worst performance of the season, as they started to incorporate newcomers Al Harrington and Tim Thomas (but not Cuttino Mobley) into their mix, and used only eight players.

James' introduction with the starting lineup produced a raucous ovation, as did the first time he touched the ball ? although long before the Knicks dug a 31-point hole just before halftime, the fans turned grumpy, mustering up some boos for the home team.

Tea-leaf readers, meanwhile, could read plenty into what LBJ said before the game, both for and against him signing to play in New York when he's free in less than 600 days.

For instance, asked directly if he wanted to play for the Knicks, he answered, "I just want to continue to just try to focus on what I have at task right now, being with the Cavs and us getting better every day. ?

"To bring that type of distraction to our team right now would be unfair to my team, my teammates, the coaching staff and the rest of the organization."

But when asked whether the size of the marketplace in which he would play will determine where he signs, he said, "That's something that's not a factor. You look at a guy like Tim Duncan, for instance, who decided to sign short-term deals and decided to take pay cuts to stay in San Antonio to sign guys like Manu [Ginobili] and sign guys like Tony Parker, and they won championships."

Yet, he also said "the fans" are what he loves about playing at the Garden, plus its history, and also praised what D'Antoni's done with the Knicks and the offense, which he ran in the Olympics when D'Antoni assisted U.S. head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"Coach Mike D'Antoni has done a great job thus far getting these guys in a system that works for them," James said. "I think in the past they had these same type of players, but maybe the system didn't work for them. ? It's definitely a different team."

As for the Garden, he said, "Every time I come here is like it's a warm feeling because you know the history. It's not just Basketball. It's everything that went on: the concerts, boxing, everything that ever went on at Madison Square Garden.

"Being a Basketball junkie like myself, how could you not love it being in this building?"