By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
David Blatt showed respect to his former team Maccabi Tel Aviv by having his new team, NBA title contenders Cleveland Cavaliers, play as hard as they could. The end result was a 107-80 win for the Cavs, after a competitive first half in which the score was 59-44 for the hosts.
As Blatt himself said after the game: “I thought in the first half, Maccabi played very well. I knew they would. I know their offense. I know the people involved. I will be fair and say Maccabi is missing their starting center from last year. They were missing Brian Randle, their starting power forward. So, in the first half Maccabi played well”.
The coach of the year in Euroleague admitted: “For the first time tonight in a long time I was nervous. I’m always excited after, but tonight I was nervous because I was playing against my friends. It’s like when you go to play your brother in the backyard. You beat him, but you feel like crap. There’s no way to win”.
LeBron James in his first game after his return to Cleveland had 12 points and 4 assists and Kyrie Irving was the top scorer of the winners with 16 points. Sylven Landesberg of Maccabi was the top scorer of the game with 23 points, while Jeremy Pargo had 18 points and 5 assists.