With his Cleveland Cavaliers up big on the Atlanta Hawks, LeBron James attempted to sub himself out of Saturday’s game after a play midway through the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena.
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Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert must preach deception to his coaches – the referees’ vision seems to go down the drain when calling Cleveland’s games.
“Up to this point it’s really paid off for us”, Coach David Blatt said. James was asked when he stopped worrying about hurt feelings when leading a team.
The Cavaliers have been dealing with injuries all season. “I just don’t want to be a distraction to anybody else and I’ve just got to move forward.”… They were meant to constitute Cleveland’s starting backcourt, Mozgov is the Cavs’ usual starting center, and Williams was supposed to back up Irving.
The Cavaliers’ best possession of the night occurred in fourth quarter, up 10 with a chance to put the Bucks away.
The Cavs are set to take on the Hawks for the first time this season. Saturday’s game featured a few controversial officiating, most noticeably the questionable ejection of Head Coach Mike Budenholzer after he was only assessed one technical foul. Budenholzer appeared to step on the court and bump referee Ben Taylor, prompting the ejection. “If there was contact, it was 100 percent unintentional”.
Tristan Thompson provided a huge lift off-the-bench again, as he ended up with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Matthew Dellavedova, who started in place of injured Mo Williams, tallied seven points and 13 assists.
Without naming names, James chastised teammates after both losses. Cavaliers G J.R. Smith has been accused of choking a 19-year-old NY man while the team was in town last week to play the Knicks. “And that speed. His length”. It’s an all-the-time thing, not a sometimes thing or when we feel like we need it. “You know, ‘Bron is a lot of things, a lot of great things, but probably where you’re not going to see him is out there playing for the (New York) Rangers”. “Mommmmmm, sit down, you’re embarrassing me”.
Kent Bazemore will miss tonight’s game and Jeff Teague is questionable, meaning Atlanta won’t quiet be at full strength.
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The Cavs recalled second-year swingman Joe Harris from Canton of the National Basketball Association Developmental League.
