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 James played like the nerves were taking over in his return to
the Cavaliers, struggling to 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting while
matching a career high with eight turnovers in a 95-90 home loss to
New York on Thursday. Kevin Love (19 points, 14 rebounds) performed
well in his debut but Cleveland got little out of its reserves in
falling short. Rose’s healthy return to the lineup was a welcomed
sight on Wednesday but the Bulls were most impressive on the
interior, where Pau Gasol posted a double-double in his team debut
and Taj Gibson scored 22 points.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (0-1): James had as many turnovers (four) as
points in the first half of Thursday’s game and never seemed to find
a rhythm with his new teammates. The new big three of James, Love
and Kyrie Irving performed well in spurts on the floor together, but
Irving and James combined to go 2-of-11 from 3-point range while
turning the ball over 12 times. Part of Cleveland’s rebuilding
effort over the summer included adding veterans Shawn Marion and
Mike Miller to beef up the bench, but the two were held scoreless in
a combined 13 minutes.
ABOUT THE BULLS (1-0): Rose played only 10 games in the previous two
seasons and got the luxury of taking the fourth quarter off after
putting up 13 points in 21 minutes during the 104-80 drubbing of the
Knicks on Wednesday. “We‘ve just got to stay consistent with it and
not get too big headed and know we can always improve as a
basketball team, improve individually every day,” Rose told
reporters. “It’s just the first game, (but) when things run smooth
like they were running tonight, everyone will look at our entire
team and see how deep we are.” That depth includes guard Aaron
Brooks, who added 13 points off the bench in his team debut and
offers a similar skill set to take some pressure off Rose.
[to top of second column] |
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Chicago G Jimmy Butler (thumb) sat out the opener and is expected
to miss 2-4 weeks.
2. James was held to 18.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting in three
games against the Bulls last season.
3. Chicago’s bench put up 55 points on 21-of-34 shooting on
Wednesday.
PREDICTION: Bulls 92, Cavaliers 88
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