Hype might sell a lot of tickets and merchandise.
But it doesn’t help teams win games.
The Cavaliers failed miserably in the season opener, losing, 95-90, to the New York Knicks Oct. 30 before 20,562 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers kept waiting for their leader to emerge from his funk. However, 10-time All-Star LeBron James got off to a brutal start and never recovered.
He finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. He shot 5 of 15 from the field, 1 of 5 from the 3-point line and committed eight turnovers.
That’s not what the Cavaliers envisioned when they signed him to a $44.1 million contract in the offseason.
‘I was out of rhythm,’ James said. ‘Some of the turnovers were careless and some were chemistry. I was throwing passes where I thought my teammates would be. Those things will come.’
The Cavaliers ended with 19 turnovers, which led to 26 points by the Knicks.
That’s not a good formula to win.
‘I hate turning the ball over,’ James said. ‘It’s a pet peeve of mine. My turnovers trickled down to the rest of our team.’
The Cavaliers started quickly and played progressively worse as the game wore on.
Cavaliers coach David Blatt thought his team hit the wall during the game.
‘Who wouldn’t peak emotionally with a night like this?’ James said. ‘There’s nothing you can do about it. I don’t know if us peaking emotionally had anything to do with it. We just had some careless plays.’
James said it was an action-packed week. He tried desperately to treat it as a normal game.
‘It was very difficult,’ he said. ‘(It wasn’t) only the game, but having a newborn at the house as well. At lot has happened in the last week.’
James’ plus-minus number for the game was -13.
‘That was an emotional night for him,’ Blatt said. ‘He wanted badly to win the game. His effort was there. His efficiency wasn’t what it normally is. That’s obvious.’
What made the night more puzzling was the Knicks (1-1) are a borderline playoff team at best. They were coming off a 24-point loss to Chicago on Oct. 29.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 25 points for the Knicks.
Obviously, patience is needed. The Cavaliers clearly need more court time because chemistry is lacking in a big way.
If things don’t improve in a hurry, things could get real ugly in Chicago on Oct. 31.
The Knicks shot 53.6 percent from the field in the game, 60.6 percent in the second half. They also outrebounded the Cavaliers, 35-33. The Cavs had outrebounded all seven opponents in the preseason.
Power forward Kevin Love had a strong debut with the Cavaliers with 19 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists.
Guard Kyrie Irving paced the Cavaliers with 22 points.
The Cavaliers’ bench was outscored, 41-12.
Blatt didn’t go very deep into his bench. Nine players got into the game, but swingman Mike Miller played just 2:55.
‘It was flow of the game,’ Blatt said. ‘That was on me. Those guys need to play more.’
