The route, strewn with obstacles and doubts, has become a personal path. He knows the way as well as anyone.
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The loss dropped James to 2-4 in the league’s showcase event, and it’s that record – fairly or unfairly – that will ultimately define his legacy.
Although James and the Cavs begin the season as odds-on favorites to defend their Eastern Conference title, they’re now a shell of themselves.
But on Tuesday night in their season opener, they got a win, 97-95, on 19 points from Mirotic, 18 from Derrick Rose and 17 from Butler.
Toronto Raptors The Raptors could make the playoffs with Kyle Lowry back in shape entering this season.
The last few weeks, the captain hasn’t been happy with the team’s frame of mind and has used his voice to send a message that pursuing a championship requires a businesslike mindset from the start. Last season their intensity seemed to drop.
Rose was then sidelined for the majority of the 2013-14 season due to a right meniscus tear. The point guard only played for 10 minutes, as he is coming back from an orbital surgery, but he showed flashes of the speed we saw past year and he looked comfortable in Fred Hoiberg’s offense. “I’m going to take this and run with it”. I don’t think that’s realistic.
The Boston Celtics failed to add a star in the offseason despite a gluttony of assets, but still have the potential to surpass their 40-win total of a year ago. However, at the end of the day, you’d need a miracle to stop the best player in the world.
He’s hoping for a smoother ride than in 2014-15, when the Cavs endured a tumultuous regular season under first-year coach David Blatt on the way to the National Basketball Association Finals, losing stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving along the way.
James missed the final four games of preseason after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection in his lower back.
Though he does a better job now of pampering his body, but the odometer is showing heavy mileage and the Cavs intend to rest him whenever possible.
The wild card remains Dwyane Wade, 33, who has missed 61 games in the last three seasons because of knee problems.
When he wasn’t on the court during second-half play, James laid on his back in front of the Cavs bench.
James, Love and Irving may all be healthy when it means the most. Well last night LeBron James did the same. James shot 41.7% in the playoffs, including 39.8% in a Finals in which he averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists. “Actually to be able to have the film and showing them, you know kids don’t believe you sometimes, to be able to show them the film that the President of the United States was at a ball game that I played in is pretty cool”. We just want him to get better every day, and he has been, and he’s been progressing and feeling like we’d like him to feel. He’s the type of guy that relishes that opportunity.
“What he does this year will be unlike anything he’s ever done in the past because this team is definitely one of the more loaded teams he’s ever played with”.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers have finally managed to put an end to the negotiations involving Tristan Thompson.
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“Everyone has to sacrifice”, James said.
