Somewhere amongst the pandemonium that swathed downtown Cleveland, there was a basketball game to be played. And for all the partying fans packed the house, the New York Knicks played the ultimate spoilers.
Carmelo Anthony, a long time nemesis of LeBron James, was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points, and Cleveland’s hallowed home boy turned the ball went just 5-of-15 from the floor with eight turnovers in 43 minutes of play.
Strangely enough, Anthony’s team defeated James’ the last time they clashed on opening night, back in the 2003-04 season when Anthony was with Denver.
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“Obviously it was a special night for not only myself but for everybody. I’m glad it was great, but I’m also glad it’s over,” LeBron James said Thursday night. “I just tried to stay focused and maintain, focus as much as I could.”
James had his lowest scoring game in recent memory. His shots were flat. His ball handling was sloppy. After a strong 31-20 start that included some exciting outlet passes, the Cavs lost purposeful passes as the turnovers started to pile up.
They looked like a team unfamiliar with each other, which is precisely what this team is.
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“Play the game, not the occasion,” David Blatt said before the game. Those words however, were much easier said than done.
James mentioned after the game that he wants to get back to playing “regular basketball.” But the hype, the excitement, and the moment of the game just might have been too much at one time for a young team to handle.
“I think we spiked at a certain point,” said Blatt. “We’ve been thinking and been excited about this game for a long time. It’s been building and building and we used that emotion in a positive way in the beginning. Like I said, I just thought we spiked and kind of dropped off the map.
“It’s easy to make an excuse. I can tell you ‘Yeah’ but on the other hand, the guys had a good reason to come out fired up. The crowd was fabulous. The energy was great. We started properly, and then we got away from playing the way that we’ve played in the first quarter. That’s what cost us more than anything else.”
All five Cavaliers starters finished in double figures, including Irving (22), Love (19), James (17), Varejao (10), and Dion Waiters (10).
The notion after the game early Friday morning was if they play like this tonight against the Chicago Bulls, they could be starting 0-2 dead in the face. But nerves were running as high as they ever have. And, even in James’ own words, it was good to get this one past us; so that now, James and the city of Cleveland can return to playing “regular basketball” again.