LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were more than ready for prime time -- and their new buddy show was a smash hit.
James scored 33 points and hooked up with Anthony for four breathtaking alley-oop dunks that were the best moments in the sophomores' highlight-filled 142-118 victory in the Rookie Challenge on Friday night.
Though neither player was selected for Sunday's All-Star game, James and Anthony are arguably the NBA's most anticipated rookie duo since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird -- and in a game mercifully free of defense, they put on a show worthy of the hype.
In their only competition of the weekend, the 19-year-old prodigies were the main attractions on a rookie team going against a squad of second-year pros led by Yao Ming and MVP Amare Stoudemire, who had 36 points and 11 rebounds.
James' pairing with Anthony was so enticing that the NBA moved the game from its usual spot in All-Star Saturday festivities, giving it a prime-time slot Friday night before a sellout crowd at Staples Center. While James provided most of the gasp-inducing highlights, Anthony scored 17 points.
Stoudemire, last season's Rookie of the Year, made an incredible number of uncontested dunks. Carlos Boozer and Ronald Murray added 25 points apiece for the second-year pros, who made nearly 71 percent of their shots in the first half to turn it into a blowout.
But nobody cared: James, wearing gold-colored shoes that wouldn't be legal during the regular season, gave a performance that steadily got better after losing the opening tip to Yao, who barely jumped to swat the ball away from the 2.3m James.
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