Midway through the season, a Knicks coach waxed on about LeBron James while lamenting the Knicks' absence of a star who can win a game by himself in the final minute.

The Cavaliers have aging players past their primes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak and so forth. Their two young vets, Anderson Varejao and Delonte West, are already in their fifth seasons and are who they are.

In comparison, Knicks building blocks, David Lee, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari — and possibly either Nate Robinson or Stephen Curry — don't look so bad.

In this series, Orlando simply looks to be the better team, better coached and with perimeter forces Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, even Mickael Pietrus aiding Dwight Howard's inside dominance. James is carrying too heavy a load. Despite his brilliance Tuesday, he committed eight turnovers because of fatigue.

A conference-final knockout in what was once hailed the greatest year in Cavaliers history will become a monumental disappointment for James. His glowing remarks about not looking to leave, being thrilled with the franchise's future will look empty. A July 1 contract extension? Can't see it happening.

As reported here last week, the Knicks sold almost as many new season tickets (950) in the last month as they did all last offseason because of the prospect of James. There still are skeptics who ask, "Why would LeBron come to the Knicks?" and who criticize the media's endless speculation.

This series is why!