The Cleveland Cavaliers had LeBron James return home after signing this offseason and the first game against the Knicks was a dud, as the King had eight turnovers as Carmelo Anthony and New York spoiled his comeback game at Quicken Loans Arena, winning 95-90 on Thursday night.
Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks rebounded from a terrible performance against the Chicago Bulls the previous night and now they are 1-1 on the season. Anthony had 25 points and six assists and the triangle offense looked sharp after it failed mightily against the Bulls. James was not sharp in the game and he had a number of turnovers and had only four points in the first half. Kyrie Irving led the way for Cleveland with 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
James finished with 17 points in the game and now the Cavaliers face off against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Kevin Love had a double-double in his first game with the Cavs, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Love also had a fantastic half court pass to James at one point that only scratches the surface of what they can do this season. James said after the game that it was special to him to return to Cleveland, but he is glad that the season has started and that the game is behind him.
Check here for more on the game from ESPN.
Earlier this summer, the Cavaliers had the Kevin Love trade talks centered on them and things first happened with a handshake deal between the Cavs and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The teams traded Love for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett and while the Cavs lost their first game, they are still thrilled with the results of that deal.
The Timberwolves did not really want to trade Love, but the team felt like they had no choice since he had said multiple times he wanted to test the free agent market and was not signing anymore extensions. Love was the top player on the trade market and one of the best young players in the league. Last season Love was impressive while averaging 26 points and 12 rebounds per game and the Cavaliers simply didn't have anyone that produced like that. Love factored into the MVP voting this season and he could be the player that shifts all the power to the east and the Cavs now likely will be the favorites to win the title.
The Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors were the other final teams along with the Cavaliers, but Cleveland was been the front runner for a while and they appeared to have the best deal for him. The Bulls had also jumped in and offered a decent package with Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, but Minnesota preferred the Cavaliers deal with Wiggins. Cleveland was offering two former number one overall picks along with a future first round pick and that gave the Wolves something to build on once they trade Love.
The Golden State Warriors originally were in the mix around the NBA draft and the teams were in deep talks, but GS did not want to include Klay Thompson in the deal. The Warriors originally offered David Lee and Harrison Barnes, but that wasn't enough for the Wolves and they worked to drive the price up on Love and clearly it worked. The Warriors did not give in on Thompson, but Cleveland did in Wiggins. Love was the top player on the market and would have been if he made it to free agency next summer, but clearly that is not happening now
