Sunday night’s preseason opener wasn’t so much about getting the victory – although the Wine and Gold did manage to drop their international guests by 27 points. It was more about a chance for the new-look Cavaliers to take the team for a test-spin while giving their new head coach a chance to face his former team.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but the Cavaliers were still too much for Maccabi Tel Aviv – especially on the boards, where they dominated, 64-36. Cleveland went to the locker room up 15 – 59-44 – and ran their edge to as many as 34 in the second half, despite none of the starters playing in the fourth quarter.
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When it was all said and done, David Blatt’s new squad coasted past his old one – 107-90 – in front of a sold-out crowd on Sunday night at The Q. Maccabi moves on to face the Nets on Tuesday night in Brooklyn. The Cavaliers travel to Brazil this week and face off against the Heat on Saturday night.
“I thought in the first half, Maccabi played very well,” said Blatt. ”I knew they would. I know their offense. I know the people involved.
“Our rotation of players and our superior depth wore them down and that’s what you saw in the second half. I thought that both teams came out of the game more or less of what they wanted.”
Five Cavaliers notched double-figure scoring and three players grabbed double-digit boards.
Kyrie Irving led the Wine and Gold with 16 points, five assists and a pair of steals – going 6-for-13 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from long-distance. His starting backcourt mate, Dion Waiters, followed up with 15 points of his own on 6-for-14 shooting. Tristan Thompson, who led the Cavs in double-doubles a season ago, picked up where he left off – tallying 14 points and 13 boards.
LeBron James – who made his debut in a Cavaliers uniform and opened the scoring with a three-pointer to the delight of 20, 562 – led the squad at intermission with 12 points, adding four boards and four helpers. James and Mike Miller didn’t see action in the second stanza. But James got plenty of love when he was on the floor.
“It feels great; it’s going to feel great for a long time,” smiled James. “For me to run back on the floor with these fans and my new teammates, I’m excited. It’s great to always leave victorious, it doesn’t matter if it’s preseason or not.”
Kevin Love only attempted six shots and finished with eight points, four assists and 11 boards. Anderson Varejao, coming off the bench, led the Cavaliers rebounding triumvirate with 15 boards in just under 17 minutes of action.
“We were happy to finally put on that jersey in front of the home crowd, but we were a little lost out there at first, in the first half,” added Love. “There were a lot of things we have to clean up, but we’ll go over film. We mention all along, every day is a chance to get better. It’s going to be a long haul for us, but we’ll be okay.”
The only other Cavalier in double-figures was rookie Joe Harris, who notched all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
For Maccabi, the Euroleague powerhouse, Sylven Landesberg came off the bench to lead all scorers with 23 points. Former Cavalier Jeremy Pargo followed up with 18 points and a team-best five assists.
Overall, the Wine and Gold shot just 41 percent from the floor on Sunday night, including 10-of-29 from beyond the arc. But Cleveland did go 21-for-22 (96 percent) from the stripe and handled Maccabi on second-chance scoring, 31-12.
Maccabi had plenty of supporters among the sold-out arena, including another player who played for both Cleveland and Maccabi, Anthony Parker – who won three Euroleague titles and was named MVP twice.
The Cavaliers’ preseason rolls on -- albeit in another continent – in six days when they meet Miami in Rio de Janeiro.