By RICK NOLAND
Assistant Sports Editor

INDEPENDENCE — Spike Lee is expected to be there. So are Connie Chung and Maury Povich. Who knows, Lindsay Lohan and Woody Allen might even make an appearance.

Toss in LeBron James, the Big Apple of New York’s professional basketball eye, and Madison Square Garden could be a zoo when the Cavaliers play the Knicks tonight at 7:30.

“Obviously, he’s the star,” Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said of James. “Coming to Madison Square Garden, the spotlight is going to be on him.”

That spotlight will be 10 times brighter than normal, as the Knicks rid themselves of the contracts of Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford — they also traded Mardy Collins — in separate deals last week, all in the hope of landing James if, as expected, he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010.

James did not talk to the media following practice Monday at Cleveland Clinic Courts, but he’ll get a ton of questions tonight when he’s swarmed by the New York press.

Last week in neighboring New Jersey, James was surrounded by about 30 reporters and cameramen, all eager to inquire about his future plans. Tonight, that number could double.

Similar occurrences happen every time James comes to New York, but the feeding frenzy will be even more intense now that the Knicks have the salary cap room to make a serious run at the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder.

James always accommodates the throng — he often seems humored by the dozens of different ways the same basic question can be asked — and then goes out and tickles the basketball fancy of Knicks fans even more on the court.

In three games against New York last season, all James did was average 42.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 4.3 steals. It wouldn’t be shocking if more of the same occurred tonight, which is expected to mark the Knicks debuts of Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers for Randolph and Collins, and Al Harrington, acquired from Golden State for Crawford.

“With LeBron coming to New York, they’re going to play us tough,” Ilgauskas said.

The Cavaliers don’t have anything to go on when it comes to scouting the new-look Knicks, but they’re not overly concerned.

“It’s kind of interesting,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “With all the new bodies, we’re not going to have a chance to see them play.

“You just try to concentrate on your rules. You worry about what you do best. … We don’t go into a game trying to make adjustments for our opponent. We try to get better at what we do.”

Brown’s players agreed.

“We just have to worry about ourselves,” reserve swingman Wally Szczerbiak said. “We want to keep playing Cavalier basketball.”

Added Ilgauskas: “If we play defense like we’re supposed to, we’ll come out on top.”

Knicks fans, meanwhile, will dream about coming out on top in the James sweepstakes, which are still almost two full seasons — and three more trips to Madison Square Garden — away from starting.

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TIP-INS: Antonio McDyess, who was traded to Denver and then bought out of his contract as part of the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups deal, has made it clear he plans on re-signing with Detroit on Dec. 7. The Cavaliers were among the teams that contacted the veteran big man, though they knew landing him was a long shot. “McDyess is a very good basketball player,” Brown said. “Any time you can try to add a good player, you try to do that.” … Tonight begins a stretch where the Cavaliers will play four games in five nights. Their lone day off is Thanksgiving, which Brown did not realize was this week until a friend reminded him their families were having dinner together. … With a 7-0 record at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavaliers are off to their third-best home start in franchise history. The 1976-77 and 1991-92 teams, which played at the Coliseum, started 9-0. Utah (6-0) and Portland (4-0) were the only other teams in the NBA that began the week unbeaten at home.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “He was my roommate my rookie year. He asked if he could stay the weekend and he ended up staying for six months.” — Ilgauskas on new Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks, who played in 43 games for the Cavaliers in 1997-98.

Noland may be reached at rickn@ohio.net or 330-721-4061.