Early on, the Cavaliers found themselves in some unfamiliar territory. They were trailing after the first quarter for the first time on this young season. Things changed in the second quarter with the Cavs going on a 17-4 run. Cleveland finished the half with a 63-59 lead at the break thanks in part to Irving’s 21 1st half points. They ultimately were able to outscore Houston and Mike D’Antoni’s high powered offense by a score of 128-120.
Some Random Scribbles:
- It’s becoming evident that Kyrie is going to have the scoring onus on him throughout the year. That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be nights where LeBron doesn’t lead the team in scoring, assuredly there will be plenty of those, but early on it looks as if Irving has the keys to the offense, with James in the role of more of a distributor and second scoring option. There has not been a season in James’ career in which he has not been the leading scorer on his team. This certainly could be the same.
- The Iman Shumpert as the back-up PG experiment is not working, at all. The offense has faltered while he has been the leader of the second unit. It’s obvious the team does not have full trust in rookie Kay Felder as of now, which is completely understandable. There has been chatter about Mario Chalmers eventually joining the team, however he is currently recovering from a torn Achilles and is not yet available.
- Mike Dunleavy on the Cavs is a very, very good thing. In one of the more underrated offseason pickups the Cavs essentially acquired Dunleavy for Matthew Dellavedova by way of a trade exception. This move was made in part for the Bulls to clear space in order to sign free agent Dwyane Wade. The move certainly has paid dividends for the Cavs early on in the season.
- Kudos to the Cavs, and the NBA for allowing this game to start at 6pm. With the World Series going on, this game was a second thought to what was going on over at Progressive Field between the Cubs and Indians. Follow our friends over at Burning River Baseball to read more about that.
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