The Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls are tipping off the NBA season on Tuesday and the season opener is on TV from TNT and streaming live online. LeBron James and Derrick Rose will start and the game from the United Center is on at 8 pm ET as the Cavs try and start the year with a win after winning the east last season.
James and Rose are both coming into the game banged up, but enough to miss the game and they will lead their respective teams on the court. James comes in after helping the Cavs win 53 games and he took the team to the finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are also opening their season on Tuesday and they are hosting the New Orleans Pelicans for that game.
James was forced to put the Cavs on his back with injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the playoffs and he responded with some strong numbers. James had two triple double performances in the finals and he averaged 35 points, 13 rebounds and nearly nine assists in the six game series.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are opening the NBA season against the Chicago Bulls and the game on Tuesday will have LeBron James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson in the starting lineup. The Cavs will be without Kyrie Irving for a stretch along with Iman Shumpert and that could mean Mo Williams gets the start for Cleveland at point guard.
The Cavaliers have Tristan Thompson back in the fold after a contract stalemate this offseason and he will be prepared to play on Tuesday. Thompson signed his contract last week and according to Cleveland.com, Thompson will be ready to play and likely will come off the bench behind Kevin Love for head coach David Blatt.
James is expecting to play in the season opener for the Cavaliers and he was able to practice in full with the team on Sunday. According to Cleveland.com, James was able to practice with the team for the first time since getting a back injection earlier in October and Blatt said that James looked good in practice heading into the first game. James has not missed a season opener in his career and he is expecting to be on the court for this one against the Bulls on Tuesday.
Kevin Love is ready to start after having shoulder surgery in the offseason and he made his preseason debut last week on Sunday for the Cavs. Love was able to play 13 minutes in the game and he also was able to play again on Monday against the Mavericks and that is a good sign for him starting on Tuesday. Love was injured in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics and he needed to have shoulder surgery during the summer.
