Cavs lift banner, then roll
CAVALIERS 117, KNICKS 88
CLEVELAND — LeBron James took time to reflect as the Cleveland Cavaliers raised their championship banner.
Then it was business as usual.
James had his 43rd career triple-double, Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and the Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks 117-88 on Tuesday night in the NBA season opener.
James scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds and 14 assists in front of a raucous home crowd that was on its feet from the pregame ceremony until late in the game, celebrating the city’s first championship in 52 years.
“It was great to have a moment like that,” he said. “It was difficult to focus on the game but we did a great job, especially in the second half.”
James got choked up while speaking to the crowd before the game.
“There were so many emotions,” he said. “To see us win the finals and tonight being that last exclamation point to receive your ring in front of your fans was a great moment.”
Irving scored 19 points in the third quarter, when Cleveland used a 20-4 run to take a 74-53 lead. Kevin Love scored 23 for the Cavaliers.
Carmelo Anthony led New York with 19 points and Derrick Rose had 17.
Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert was taken to the locker room late in the third quarter with concussionlike symptoms after colliding with Kristaps Porzingis. Cleveland Coach Tyronn Lue said Shumpert was undergoing tests to determine the extent of the injury.
Cleveland’s players, coaching staff and front office personnel also received their championship rings in the pregame ceremony, and the sellout crowd chanted Lue’s last name.
“That was a really good feeling,” he said. “It was great to be a part of it.”
The basketball game was only part of a big night in town. The Cleveland Indians played Game 1 of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs across the street at Progressive Field.
The Knicks, who missed the playoffs the past three seasons, are expecting major improvement after acquiring Rose from Chicago to run the offense and signing center Joakim Noah, who was scoreless in 21 minutes.
“We will improve, I guarantee it,” Anthony said. “There are just so many moving parts right now. We need to get better, but we’re not running from that fact.”
New York, playing its first game under new Coach Jeff Hornacek, trailed by 13 in the second quarter but rallied to cut the lead to 45-43 at halftime. A pair of dunks by James and three-pointers from Irving and Love pushed the lead to 6149.
Cleveland’s spurt continued as Irving hit 3 three-pointers for a 74-53 lead.
Porzingis scored 16 points for New York.
Anthony scored 11 of New York’s 18 first-quarter points, and point guard Brandon Jennings, signed in the offseason, scored seven points in 22 minutes.
Noah, who has never been a favorite of Quicken Loans Arena fans, had a few kind words for the city Tuesday.
“Congratulations to Cleveland,” he said. “Even though it’s not a vacation spot, you guys got a championship. It’s well-deserved.”
Up next, the Cavaliers travel to Toronto on Friday in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, which Cleveland won in six games.
The Knicks host Memphis on Saturday in their home opener in what will mark Rose’s first game in a New York uniform at Madison Square Garden.
James and Dwyane Wade, a Chicago native, finalized their bet Tuesday on the World Series between the Indians and Cubs.
“If the Indians win the World Series, he has to wear an Indians uniform when he comes here and if the Cubs win it, I have to wear a Cubs uniform when we play in the United Center,” James said.
James said he and most of the Cavaliers plan to attend Game 2 of the World Series tonight.
TRAIL BLAZERS 113, JAZZ 104
PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard scored 39 points and the Portland Trail Blazers extended their winning streak in home openers to a league-record 16 consecutive games with a victory over the Utah Jazz.
CJ McCollum added 25 points for the Blazers, who trailed 83-77 at the start of the fourth quarter. They were still down 102-99 with under five minutes left before McCollum made a pull-up jumper and three-pointer to give Portland a 104-102 lead.
Lillard made a pair of free throws before nailing a three-pointer that put Portland up 109-102 with 1:02 left and the Jazz couldn’t catch up.
Joe Johnson (Little Rock Central/Arkansas) scored 29 points in his debut with the Jazz and Rodney Hood added 26, including a rim-rattling dunk in the third quarter.
SPURS 129, WARRIORS 100
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 35 points and the San Antonio Spurs emphatically spoiled Kevin Durant’s Warriors debut Tuesday with a victory that sent Golden State fans heading for the exits early on opening night.
Durant had 27 points and 10 rebounds, but looked out of sync with MVP Stephen Curry and the reigning Western Conference champions in a forgettable first game — and quite a different one after the Warriors dominated at home and came out of the blocks last season with a record 24-0 start.
Leonard scored 31 points by the end of the third, LaMarcus Aldridge added 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Gregg Popovich thoroughly outdid a couple of his close friends on the opposite bench in reigning NBA Coach of the Year Steve Kerr and top assistant Mike Brown.