NBA game thread: Cleveland Cavaliers at home to face Dallas Mavericks

The Cavaliers roll on in the preseason. While we are still excited to see the new incarnation of the NBA's hallowed Big Three, it won't be on display tonight. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James will play, but tonight is Kevin Love's turn to take a breather. He banged his neck up in Cincinnati Wednesday night, but the team says that isn't the issue keeping him out of action. Rather, it's simply a preseason game.

The Cavaliers preseason schedule hasn't done them too many favors, really. They started on a different continent in Rio, Brazil. They still haven't been able to have a regular practice since that game, and Irving comes back from an ankle sprain tonight before putting together a full workout with the team. That's ... pretty frustrating. Long term, it's not clear it will matter. The Cavaliers have 13 days left to prepare for opening night, and there should be plenty of practice time. But more practice, less international travel may have been what David Blatt preferred.