By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Cavaliers managed to overcome in-game adversity and beat the Celtics by a final score of 102-99 taking advantage of a 7-1 run to end the game.
Five minutes into the season opener, Gordon Hayward suffered a horrific injury that shocked everybody in the arena.
With Hayward out, Cleveland managed to pull away and led 54-38 at halftime. Brad Stevens’ team fought back into the game and managed to cut the deficit to one at the end of three quarters (73-72).
Both teams fought hard in the end but it was Cleveland that showed patience and decisiveness in the final moments.
Kyrie Irving had an amazing performance in his return to Cleveland. He finished the game with 22 points on 8/17 shooting including 4 3-pointers. He also added 10 assists, 4 boards and 3 steals but missed a chance to send the game into overtime in the final seconds.
For the winning side, LeBron James was absolutely dominant and just missed a triple-double with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. Kevin Love added a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards, while hitting the “dagger 3” to put the Cavs up by 4 in the final seconds.
Turkish rookie Cedi Osman and Spanish veteran Jose Calderon were both healthy DNP’s and will likely get minutes in the games to come.