All opinions expressed by John Denton are exclusively his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.
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Nike is ready to be NBA’s official provider of shoes and clothing as of the end of its 2016-17 current deal with Adidas, and a LeBron Nike deal is one of the ways that new partnership is going to start. Eight of those assists led to 3-pointers and 34 points all told came as a result of James’ passes.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James is undeniably one of the best basketball players of our generation. With Tobias Harris moving from power forward to small forward and Victor Oladipo coming off the bench, there haven’t been many opportunities for Hezonja to play. We’re not there yet, but this was a really good team effort all around.
While James certainly gives all teams fits with his scoring and passing, he’s been a particular thorn in the side of the Magic.
On offense, the Magic struggled to finish near the hoop, misfired on most of their 3-point tries and couldn’t generate free-throw opportunities.
“I’m very humble, man”, James said Monday after practice with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Maybe the vets on this team have seen too many seasons to get to excited or depressed until the playoff season starts in the spring.
It would have been a routine layup had it not been for Shumpert not giving up on the play. “We got to move on now”. LeBron James and Kevin Love rebounded against the Trail Blazers to help snap a three-game losing streak for the Cavs and the team now is preparing for the Magic on Friday. James led the Cavaliers with 36 points. Since then, Orlando has won six of its last eight games.
“It’s the second time it’s happened this year and it’s not a great feeling”, James said. Orlando was held to seven points in the first nine minutes, and it cost them the game.
“We should always have a sense of urgency”, James said after a recent game.
James wasn’t the only one who impressed for the Cavs, as Timofey Mozgov put together his best game of the year.
“I’m not a 31-, 32-minute guy”.
“I’m playing at a high level. We have to set our goals high, especially here at home where we have to protect our home court”.
The team entered the year knowing that Irving could be out until 2016, and that Love would need time to slowly work his way back into developing rhythm, and that LeBron would have to be the leading force behind the figurative circling of the wagons. Cleveland (15-7) forced Orlando (12-11) into shooting 39 percent from the floor.
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It would be tempting to blame the team’s sluggishness on returning from Phoenix around 4 a.m. on Wednesday. Numerous coaches and players didn’t get in bed until 7 a.m. and fortunately they had Thursday off to catch up on sleep.
