LeBron James faced the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night for the first time since getting destroyed in the 2014 NBA Finals. The final result for James' Cleveland Cavaliers was the same as it was for James' Miami Heat, with the Spurs eking out a 92-90 victory after the four-time MVP turned the ball over in the final seconds.
While James had success as a facilitator with nine assists, he struggled with his shot, which has been a bit of a theme this season. He went 6-of-17 from the field, marking the third time in 10 games he has shot less than 40 percent in a game. That happened just five times last regular season and only six times including the playoffs.
James also had five turnovers on the night, and none were more disastrous than the final one, which cost the Cavs a chance to tie or take the lead in the waning moments:
With the loss, the Cavs dropped to 5-5 on the year as the early season feeling out process trudges on. In addition to James' shooting woes, Kevin Love had his own problems on both ends of the floor, which also isn't something new.
Love recorded a double-double and had another one of his patented outlet passes, but he shot just 4-of-12 and missed badly on two open three-point attempts. For the season, he's shooting only 38.9 percent overall and 35.7 from three-point range. It's also worth noting that nearly 43 percent of his shots are coming from beyond the arc.
On the other end, Love's weak defense was exploited once again. Boris Diaw had a big game against Love, racking up 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds while shooting 8-of-14.
Love is an excellent player and will most certainly get better, but Chris Bosh looks like a prophet for predicting how difficult the adjustment would be in Cleveland. Bosh had his own issues adjusting to his role in Miami, and Love is going through some of the same things.
Although the Cavs lost to a short-handed Spurs team, there were some positives. Anderson Varejao made a killing in the pick-and-roll game, and he finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Cavs' normally weak defense also held up nicely as a whole, although a late breakdown on a Manu Ginobili backdoor cut was a killer.
And finally, the minutes breakdown had to have been more to James' liking after he spoke out about the major minutes for himself and the Cavs' other stars. James played just 34 minutes, while Love played 35 and Irving played 37, all below their season averages.
3 other things we learned
The Bucks and Nets played an early candidate for game of the year: The Bucks are one of the most fun stories of this young season, and their triple-overtime thriller against the Nets in Jason Kidd's return to Brooklyn was one of the most fun games of the year. Milwaukee won the marathon contest, 122-118, to move to 7-5 and almost reach half its win total from last season. Rookie Jabari Parker had 23 points to lead the Bucks, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brandon Knight both had 18. Knight had an especially eventful night. The youngster had a chance to win the game in overtime, only he botched a breakaway layup. But Knight would have his revenge, with a clutch three to force the third overtime and free throws to ice the game at the line in the final extra period. The schedule is about to get rough for Milwaukee in the next few weeks, and it'll be interesting to see how this young team responds after the surprising start.
The Grizzlies are beatable when half the roster is sick: The Grizzlies entered play Wednesday coming off a beat down of the Rockets to move to a league-best 10-1. However, an illness spread throughout the roster, which left Courtney Lee, Tony Allen, Kosta Koufos, Jon Leuer and Beno Udrih unavailable for a marquee game in Toronto. Despite being so short-handed, Memphis did its "Grit n' Grind" thing, only to fall victim to Kyle Lowry heroics. It was a heck of performance even in defeat, with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph putting up a combined 40 points and 30 rebounds. The underrated Mike Conley also had 19 points in the loss. The Raptors deserve plenty of credit as well for gutting out the victory, and we're sure to hear much more from both of these teams as the year goes on.
Bradley Beal is back: Monta Ellis had it all and the Mavericks pulled out a 105-102 victory over the Wizards, but it sure was great to see Beal back on the court after missing the beginning of the season with a wrist injury. Beal came off the bench in his season debut, and he put up a team-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 3-of-6 from three-point land in 26 minutes. While the loss was disappointing, the Wizards are still 7-3 on the season despite Beal's absence, and they should be ready to take off with him back in the lineup.
Play of the Night
The Pacers are tied with the Hornets with ball and a chance to win in the final seconds. Rodney Stuckey chucks up an airball ... but wait ... it's Solomon Hill with the putback at the buzzer! KOBE ASSIST FOR THE WIN! The awesome win for Indiana was a brutal loss for Charlotte, who is now 4-8 overall and 1-6 on the road. The Hornets' offense has been rough to watch all season, and it's getting close to panic-button time in Charlotte.
7 fun things
From Kidd in Brooklyn to Lance Stephenson in Indiana to Vince Carter in Toronto, there were quite a few NBA returns. These returns featured a lot of booing. On a lighter note, the waterworks were flowing at Carter's return.
Andrew Wiggins is a very athletic human being. Sometimes he's a little TOO athletic.
This Michael Carter-Williams miss basically sums up the 76ers.
Another fine example of NBA fashion by James Harden.
Brandan Wright literally climbed the back of Kevin Seraphin for an alley-oop.
Shabazz Muhammad can grab a rebound from anywhere.
Nick Young may not be great at taking charges, but we might as well give him MVP, because the Lakers are 2-0 with him back in the lineup.
Final scores
Pacers 88, Hornets 86 (Indy Cornrows recap | At The Hive recap)
Clippers 114, Magic 90 (Clips Nation recap | Orlando Pinstriped Post recap)
Celtics 101, 76ers 90 (CelticsBlog recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Mavericks 105, Wizards 102 (Mavs Moneyball recap | Bullets Forever recap)
Spurs 92, Cavaliers 90 (Pounding The Rockc recap | Fear The Sword recap)
Suns 88, Pistons 86 (Bright Side Of The Sun recap | Detroit Bad Boys recap)
Raptors 96, Grizzlies 92 (Raptors HQ recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)
Timberwolves 115, Knicks 99 (Canis Hoopus recap | Posting and Toasting recap)
Bucks 122, Nets 118 (3OT) (Brew Hoop recap | NetsDaily recap)
Nuggets 107, Thunder 100 (Denver Stiffs recap | Welcome to Loud City recap)
Lakers 98, Rockets 92 (Silver Screen and Roll recap | The Dream Shake recap)