During the first half, an irritated James performed an in-game adjustment on Cleveland’s new sleeved jerseys.
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James dominated in the fourth quarter by scoring 11 points, including six in a row. At this point, the two-time MVP and his squad were trailing by nine points to the Knicks at 36-27.
LeBron James on #Cavs starting games slow: “There’s no room for it. We have to do a better job”.
“I’m just out of rhythm”, he said.
“I’ve played against a lot of great players, but nothing at the level of LeBron”, 76ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor said, shaking his head.
Mo Williams scored 22 points while Kevin Love contributed 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Tristan Thompson had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs. But the best player in the game isn’t a fan of the relatively new trend.
Nikola Mirotic, representing the philosophical shift under Hoiberg as much as anyone as a new starter, scored 19 points to lead the Bulls.
Sixers: Philadelphia scored seven points in the final 32 seconds of the first quarter, including a dunk and a 3-pointer by T.J. McConnell…. “I was a little frustrated with my shot, couldn’t make a bucket so I had to take it out on something”. Once the Cavs took back the lead less than a minute into the second half, they wouldn’t trail again. James openly complained about them in March 2014 when he first wore them with the Miami Heat. This play ignited a Quicken Loans Arena crowed that seemed so desperate throughout the game to find something to cheer about.
“I don’t know? It might be mental; it’s okay, “James told reporters”.
Following a poor start to the season, which resulted in a 97-95 defeat to Chicago in the season opening, the Cavaliers have won four in a row to hold a 4-1 record, and before they host the Pacers James and the Cavaliers crew could improve their winning streak if they beat Philadelphia at home on Friday night.
After a 32-point first quarter, the Knicks’ offense managed just 54 points the rest of the way and finished shooting 39.3 percent.
Something about hearing a player say “We love the jerseys” doesn’t seem super genuine after watching him rip them apart angrily a couple hours earlier, especially given James’ previous comments.
Once a team wears sleeved jerseys, it must don them at least three times – and no more than six – in the regular season. We had to fight through a few frustration, some good play from the Knicks.
“We didn’t have our fastball tonight”, Cavs coach David Blatt said.
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As for the 9,000 field goals (he now has 9,009), the milestone came in the second quarter when he flushed a two-handed slam with 7:23 left (hey, points 25,000 and 25,001 also came on a dunk, an alley-oop from Matthew Dellavedova on Monday). “But while I’m still getting my range of motion back and my strength, I feel like my body’s balancing itself out”.
