Fear the Newsletter: Playing without LeBron and Kyrie didn’t go well

Here's today's Fear the Newsletter, where we will always try to set you up like Kyrie passing to LeBron off the glass.

TALK TO ME: With LeBron and Kyrie resting, the Cavs lost to the Heat 120-92. And per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, J.R. Smith got in an argument with Heat players - including Dion Waiters - and had to be escorted off the court after the game ended.

FWIW, the Cavs are now 4-20 without LeBron since the start of the 2014-15 season.

And ICYMI, Derrick Williams has signed with the team for the remainder of the season.

LEGEND HAS IT: The Cavs are off today, as they are traveling back from Miami and play tomorrow.

ALL DUE RESPECT: The Warriors, Celtics, Jazz and Wizards all had Saturday off. The Raptors lost to the Bucks as DeMar DeRozan struggled to get going. The Clippers rallied to take out the Bulls. James Harden and the Rockets ripped up the Grizzlies' defense. The Spurs beat the Wolves in OT for their seventh straight win.

Standings watch: The Cavs are now 2.5 games up on the Celtics, 5.5 games up on the Wizards and six games up on the Raptors. Out West, the Warriors' lead on the Spurs is down to just to two games.

JOB WELL DONE: We didn't post any articles outside of game content yesterday, so why not subscribe to the Locked on Cavs podcast and catch up on old episodes?

CROWN: NPR has a story up on Quinn Cook. GQ's look at solitary confinement and how it breaks people is enthralling. The WaPo's Adam Kilgore has a piece up about calls for change in Georgetown basketball. This NYT essay by is the most heatbreaking, and yet warm, thing I've ever read. Lastly, VICE Sports' Blake Murphy on how the Raptors will survive without Kyle Lowry.

That's it for today. Drop your questions, comments and concerns to christopherwmanning@gmail.com and we'll talk tomorrow prior to Cavs-Heat II.

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