MIAMI — Road, sweet road.
It is if your name is LeBron James or Dwyane Wade and the venue is Madison Square Garden.
As if the New York Knicks aren’t in enough trouble after Amar’e Stoudemire took on a fire extinguisher and was KO’d, they might want to check out what Miami's two big stars have done at the Garden in recent years.
In his past seven games there, James has averaged 35.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7 assists, and his team has won six of them. That includes scoring 50 points with Cleveland on March 5, 2008, and then coming back with 52 for the Cavaliers on Feb. 4, 2009, to join Michael Jordan as the only visiting players with multiple 50-point games at the present Garden.
“Absolutely,’’ James said about looking forward to Thursday’s Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series at the Garden after the Heat won the first two games in Miami. “It's the mecca of basketball. Now, it’s the postseason, so it even raises it higher.’’
Perhaps Wade hasn’t had a Garden party of the 50-point variety, but he’s still been a terror in New York. In his past eight games there, he’s averaged 30.4 points with a high of 37. Wade has played 12 games overall at the Garden, and the Heat have won eight.
“It’s no secret: Other than AmericanAirlines Arena, it’s my favorite place to play,’’ Wade said. “There’s something about the Garden …. So I look forward to how this team is going to respond in a very hostile environment.’’
Hostile? Not exactly for James.
During his first 50-point effort, he was on the receiving end of “MVP’’ chants and a standing ovation. Of course, that was before James spurned the Knicks as a free agent in the summer of 2010 to join the Heat.
That night got even weirder when a 17-year-old New Yorker wearing a Cavaliers jersey ran down to the Cleveland bench when James’ was being taken out with 23 seconds left. Before being arrested, he got a chance to inform LeBron he was his favorite player.
“It’s great,’’ James said about his visits to the Garden. “We all know the history of that building. So it’s fun to be part of it.’’
James nearly made history of another kind during his 52-point night. He originally was credited with a triple-double, having also totaled 10 rebounds and 11 assists. That would have marked the first triple-double an NBA player had with a 50-point game since Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in January 1975.
Alas, the NBA reviewed tape the next day. And James’ triple-double was taken away when it was determined a late rebound should have been credited to Cavaliers center Ben Wallace. So that left him with nine boards.
Oh, well. It’s still one of the greatest performances the Garden has seen. And now James will try to put on another big show in his first playoff game at the venue.
It’s not looking good for the Knicks as they try to somehow slow down the James-Wade express. After having lost starting guard Iman Shumpert for the playoffs in Game 1 due to a torn ACL, Stoudemire was so ticked off after Monday’s 104-94 loss in Game 2 he whacked the glass surrounding a fire extinguisher. Stoudemire left with a lacerated left hand, and the Knicks don't expect him to return for the rest of the series.
Two wins in the Garden, and the series will be over. That might not be too tough considering the success James and Wade have had in the building.
Since James joined forces with Wade on the Heat, they’re 2-1 at MSG. Their only appearance in the past regular season was a 93-85 win April 15, which featured James scoring 29 points and Wade adding 28.
Add on his 7-4 mark with Cleveland from 2003-10 and James’ teams have gone 9-5 in his Garden appearances. His overall scoring average there is 29.9, more than two points higher than his career mark of 27.6.
Wade, who has won four of his past five games in New York, has a 27.3 career average at the Garden, more than two points higher than his career mark of 25.2. If you take away his first visit to the building, a dreadful six-point showing as a rookie in 2003-04, he’s averaged 29.2 points in his past 11 games there.
But let’s not forget Chris Bosh, the third member of Miami’s Big Three. He also loves playing in the Garden, and there’s good reason why.
In 16 career games, Bosh has averaged 22.1 points there, more than two points above his career average of 19.8. Bosh is 2-0 with the Heat (he sat out a loss last season) after managing to go 7-7 with woeful Toronto there from 2003-10. Bosh’s greatest Garden memory is scoring 40 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in a Jan. 11, 2008, game.
“It’s one of those places that has a lot of history,’’ Bosh said of the venue. “You can feel the history when you walk in there …. It’s a really exciting place to play. Being out there in New York right next to Broadway is something else.’’
Bosh actually made his first appearance at the Garden in the 2002 McDonald’s All-American game, shortly before he graduated from Dallas Lincoln High School. He totaled 14 points and seven boards.
“I’m in the Garden, and at Mickey-D’s,’’ Bosh said of what a thrill it was. “I’m glad it’s not Idaho or Iowa or nothing like that (where the game was) …. I was just lucky it was in New York.’’
It’s doubtful folks in Idaho or Iowa will take any offense. It’s not as if there are many arenas anywhere that stack up to Madison Square Garden.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
