NOTEBOOK | From Gund Arena

Mighty Mihm: Cavaliers forward Chris Mihm had one of the best games of his young career in Monday's win, scoring 19 points off the bench -- just one off his career high. "I know I can perform like that," Mihm said. "When I get minutes and I get comfortable in an offensive scheme, like I do with Coach [Paul] Silas, I know that I am a good player and I am capable of a lot." Mihm, who was selected seventh in the 2000 draft by the Bulls, then immediately traded to the Cavaliers, has been called soft by some critics. Silas doesn't agree. "I didn't know about that criticism and if so, I didn't see it," he said. Still, Monday's performance wasn't exactly expected. "He surprised the heck out of me, that's the honest to God truth," Silas said. "But he's capable of that. Every game I've put him in, he's produced."
Can't top Diop: Cavaliers center DeSagana Diop has also shown improvement over Silas and continued to see serious minutes down the stretch. "DeSagana is tough in the middle," Silas said. "He's doing everything, going out and blocking shots, creating havoc in there and that's what we need from our bench." Diop, who tied a career-high with five blocks in Saturday's win over Washington, had two blocks, six rebounds and three assists against New York. "I'll do whatever they ask," Diop said. "Coach has given me a lot of confidence."
Easy explanation: Knicks coach Don Chaney had no trouble explaining why his team played so poorly against Cleveland. "We played scared," Chaney said. "We respected their athleticism and speed too much and we didn't get into guys." Still, he was impressed by the Cavaliers. "I thought they all played exceptionally well," he said. "They have a very good young team. I've seen them in a lot of games and this was by far the best I've seen them play."
Outside threat: It wasn't surprising to see LeBron James score 17 against the Knicks, but it was surprising to see how he scored them. James was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and did not score any of his points on dunks. "I just keep working hard," said James, whose erratic outside shot has drawn criticism. "When I'm practicing, I hear all the voices in my head telling me I can't shoot." James finished 7-of-12 from the field. "I think LeBron will be a great shooter and I thought he shot the ball very well tonight," said Chaney. "But I think I can make a couple of shots if nobody is in my face. To me, that's what happened tonight; we had nobody in anybody's face."
Injury update: Cavaliers forward Darius Miles left the game in the first quarter after getting hit in the nose by Ricky Davis' elbow. He did not return.
-- Joe Scalzo