Rookie Sexton stumbles in home opener

We all knew he was gone, but cold reality set in on Oct. 21 in the Cavaliers home opener when there was no “From Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, LeBron James!” in the pregame introductions.

Fans need a new hero. They want that player to be rookie Collin Sexton, judging by the way he moved the volume meter inside Quicken Loans Arena when he entered the lineup with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

It is way too early to know what kind of season Sexton will have, but it isn’t too early to know Coach Tyronn Lue needs someone to come through in the clutch.

The theme for the Cavaliers this year as they try to adjust to life without LeBron is the ungrammatical “Be the Fight.”

That fight is going to have to come from the rookie.

He never knew what it was like to play with James, so he isn’t like some of the others who still seem to be waiting for James to make a basket or block a shot, even though LeBron is 2,000 miles away in Los Angeles.

“In the summer league, (Sexton) got better each game,” Lue said before the game with the Atlanta Hawks. “From the Toronto game to the Minnesota game (to start the regular season), he continued to take that next step every game and get better.

“He understands what we’re trying to do offensively. He’s doing a good job defensively, picking up full court and pressuring the point guard. With his toughness and his mentality, he’s going to be just fine.”

Sexton played 12 minutes in the first half against the Hawks. He made just one of four shots from the field and made a major mistake with 2:17 left in the first half when he stepped into a 3-point attempt by Atlanta guard Kent Bazemore.

Sexton was called for a flagrant-one. Bazemore made all three free throws. The Hawks retained the ball because of the flagrant-one call and Bazemore made a driving layup to complete the five-point play and push the Hawks ahead, 61-58. The Cavs never regained the lead.

The Cavaliers, who once led by 15 points in the first quarter, were bulldozed, 133-111. They made the Hawks, 0-2 at tipoff, look like the Golden State Warriors.

Sexton, 19, played a season-high 28 minutes. He struggled on both ends of the court. He was 2-of-11 shooting and had two assists. He had a minus-23 plus-minus, meaning the Hawks outscored the Cavs by 23 points when he was on the floor.

Sexton spent part of the home opener guarding Hawks rookie Trae Young. It did not go well.

Young scored 35 points – not all of them on Sexton, but enough that Sexton can chalk up the experience to a lesson learned. It goes along with the answer Lue gave when asked about “the most eye-opening thing” Sexton is going to experience the first month of the season.

“I think how good all the guards are,” said Lue, a former NBA guard. “The speed and quickness of all the guards, but I think the biggest thing is having to run a team.

“When I came in, I was a scoring point guard in college and then I had to learn to play with (Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant) and run an offense and run a team. It wasn’t about me. We want Collin to be aggressive to score the basketball like he does, but also to be able to Kyle Korver and Kevin Love and other guys shots as well.”

No one said the transition from James to the current Cavaliers would be easy.

Jeff Schudel