Wade, Rose display deadly combination in NBA pre-season
Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose paired in the backcourt in Cleveland. Ben Simmons finally on the floor with Markelle Fultz alongside in Philadelphia.
Two Eastern Conference teams with big aspirations got to see some of their tantalizing combinations together in their preseason openers Wednesday night.
Wade and Rose made their debuts for the Cavaliers, who got a great first impression from Kevin Love in the center spot. The former All-Star guards both scored seven points as Cleveland lost 109-93 to the Atlanta Hawks while LeBron James sat out while recovering from a sprained left ankle.
The Cavs are making Love their starting center this season and he began the game with 3-pointers for Cleveland's first two baskets.
Philadelphia started the last two No. 1 overall picks together in its 111-89 home loss to Memphis. Simmons, who missed all of last season recovering from a broken foot, showed his versatility with six points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He shot only 2 for 8 and Fultz was worse at 2 for 13, finishing with four points in his first game. ___ HAWKS 109, CAVALIERS 93 Dennis Schroder had 18 points as the Hawks earned their first preseason victory.
Love finished with 12 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes.
HAWKS: Taurean Prince had 15 points and eight rebounds. ... Dewayne Dedmon was 6 for 7 from the field and scored 13 points.
CAVALIERS: Jae Crowder, acquired from Boston in the Kyrie Irving trade, started and scored eight points. ... Iman Shumpert played a little over two minutes off the bench before leaving with a foot injury. ... Kyle Korver shot 1 for 8, 1 for 7 behind the arc, against his former team. ... Rookie Cedi Osman from Turkey had six points in 16 minutes of his debut.
UP NEXT: Atlanta (1-1) visits Detroit on Friday. Cleveland (0-1) hosts Indiana on Friday. ___ GRIZZLIES 111, 76ERS 89 Brandan Wright scored 16 points as the Grizzlies improved to 2-0 in the preseason.
Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington each scored 13 for the 76ers.