LeBron gets the last word on Phil and Knicks

Phil Jackson slipped into his seat — center court, about 10 rows back — just as the game was tipping off, almost unnoticed as he took his place next to Bill Bradley. But LeBron James clearly knew where he was. With each dunk and 3-pointer and brilliant pass, James ran up court staring that direction. And he had plenty of chances.

For the Knicks, this should have been the best of times. Returning to Madison Square Garden as conquering heroes with four straight wins and a record that is a high point of the Jackson regime. Across from them awaited the test of James and the defending champion Cavaliers.

But nothing ever seems that easy for the Knicks. Instead of riding high they came in under the cloud of more self-induced controversy courtesy of Jackson, and the troubling news that Derrick Rose was not playing, instead headed to the hospital to undergo an MRI to assure that there was no structural damage to his back.

LeBron James, Phil Jackson face off at MSG

Maybe it was the absence of Rose or maybe it was simply that Jackson provided something to keep James’ attention and ire, but in a game that was never close James looked to keep pouring it on all night, opening up leads of as many as 34 in a 126-94 win over the Knicks.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Knicks and instilled a bit of reality into how far they still have to go to catch the Cavaliers. James finished with 25 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and countless glowering looks into the stands.

Did Jackson’s words - or lack of - provide fire?

“I’m motivated for the love of the game,” James said. “I’m motivated by the process. I’m motivated knowing that my kids are watching tonight on national television. I don’t need much more.”

In finally providing a kind of, sort of, apology to James for a comment he made last month, Jackson left open the still dangling inability to push aside his ego and just say that he made a mistake. And to add to the mix he went on in his latest interview to tweak his own star, Carmelo Anthony - the same player who had already sided with his friend, James, over Jackson in the first issue, wondering aloud why Jackson would even talk about it.

Jackson, who has become a nearly mute leader of the Knicks organization, even as the team has finally begun to present a watchable show on the court, raised the ire of James when he conducted a rare interview with ESPN last month. He veered in odd directions, tweaking not just LeBron James, but Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich and Mike Conley Jr., too. On James, he disclosed an odd second-hand tale of the Heat being forced to provide special treatment to the star - and in describing it, he referred to James’ business associate, Maverick Carter, as his, “posse.”

Carter immediately tweeted out his displeasure with what he saw as a disrespectful comment. And for weeks Jackson was silent before finally appearing on CBS Sports Network’s “We Need To Talk” Tuesday. Given the opportunity to apologize, to put this all aside Jackson opted to, well, sort of apologize but not really, depicting the comment as something he, “could regret,” but mostly saying that he couldn’t talk about other teams' players, which is what he always does and gets himself in trouble for more often than he should.

“(The) obvious thing is, the word itself carries connotation,” Jackson said. “And I just don't understand that part of it, the word. So I guess word choice could be something I could regret.”

Jackson then was asked if he would seek out James to clear the air, decided that no one was hurt by the comment - even if James has made it clear that he was.

“No, it's water under the bridge," Jackson said. "I don't think there was anybody hurt or harmed in this situation. I think LeBron's friend obviously had an issue with it. So we just let it go. It's not enough to talk about it.”

But something he might not be able to avoid a conversation about is the comment about Anthony.

“Carmelo a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than (the Knicks want),” Jackson said. “We have a rule, if you hold a pass two seconds you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop and that is one of the things we work with.”

Asked about the comment, the normally amiable Anthony moved to cut off the interview at first, “Oh come on, man,” he said. “I’m gone, man. Thank you. Sorry man. I don’t want to answer those questions.”

When pressed he simply said, “I don’t even know what was said to be honest with you. I just don’t even want to talk about that, what he’s talking about exactly. I want to stay away from that at this point. My focus is my teammates and winning. We’ve been playing great basketball and that’s the only thing I’m focused on. Whatever Phil said he said it. I have nothing to say about that.”

The Knicks may rely on Anthony even more if Rose is ailing. The Knicks said the MRI revealed no structural damage and Hornacek said that the plan was for Rose to be on the plane to Sacramento with the team Thursday morning. Rose has been a solid starter for the Knicks, but he has a history of 228 games missed over the last five seasons.

Email: popper@northjersey.com

Email: popper@northjersey.com