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Wow. An incredible day in Cleveland ends in disappointment as Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks picked up a 95-90 victory. I told a friend that the story of today wasn't the game that was played, but instead that the game was played at all. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love play on the same team. They might not have it down now, but it'll come.
LeBron James was the story, and he was largely awful. It doesn't mean much moving forward. It probably means nothing moving forward. He's the best player in the world. He's had a lot on his plate and there were really strong emotions for him returning to Cleveland. There are 82 games in a season and, honestly, it's unlikely we care about anything that actually happened in this game in a few months. But tonight, he was bad, and it's the biggest reason the Cavaliers lost. He finished with 17 points on 15 shots, eight turnovers, five rebounds, four assists.
The most interesting thing to me tonight was the Cavaliers short bench. The Cavs played nine players, and Mike Miller only saw the court for three minutes. Irving and James played 43 minutes tonight. Tristan Thompson, who may very well sign a contract extension guaranteeing him $10 million per year, played 20 minutes. You can't read that much into it, as it's just one game, but it looks like a playoff rotation on the front end of a back to back. Time will tell what David Blatt's plans are.
What did you guys think? Anything concern you long term?