The Cleveland Cavaliers have maintained their winning streak despite LeBron James being ejected for the first time. Kevin Love was there. The Bulls won’t succeed again, the Timberwolves fail because of Otto Porter and the nuggets and kings are going down.
LeBron James is still making his debut at the age of 32. The proof was provided by the performance against his ex-team from Miami, where he received an ejection in the third quarter for the first time in his career. The King was approached at the Drive, but didn’t get a whistle – so he yelled at one of the Refs and gestured wildly. It was supposed to be his last action of the evening.
“I didn’t just get fouled once in this play,”James explained afterwards.”I told him[the referee] what I had to say.”
As his team was already leading with 23 points at this point, that was not the deciding factor. Guests from South Beach won the last quarter, but didn’t come within striking distance. This was mainly due to a strong Kevin Love. In contrast to LBJ, he got a lot of calls and hit 14 of his 17 free throws. In total he played 38 points and 9 rebounds, James finished the evening with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Dwyane Wade (15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) was also productive coming from the bank.
For Miami, Dion Waiters took the biggest scoring load with 21 points, but his efficiency left a lot to be desired (8/19 FG). But Bam Adebayo (19 points, 7/7 FG) made a good game in the Second Unit.
After Devin Booker had to quit with an inflammation in his toe, Devin Booker was back and took control. Together with T. J. He made Warren – once again – an offensive wing duo to fear: The two together scored 58 points.
Bookers most important action, however, was one at the defensive end of the field. 30 seconds before the end – the Suns led with 5 points – Bulls-Guard Kris Dunn stole the splitting of Tyler Ulis and could have provided a one-posession game via layup. But Booker sprinted back and blocked the attempt – the decision:”That was the crunchtime. And there I do everything that is needed for victory,”he explained afterwards.
Booker finished the game with 33 points (5/9 3FG), 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Warren scored 25 points. In the Bulls the backcourt around Kris Dunn (24 points, 8 assists) and Justin Holiday (25 points) was convincing, Paul Zipser was on the field for 6 minutes, but did not score (0 points, 0/5 FG).
Page 1: Cavs roll on, LeBron flies, Booker rules
Page 2: Porter takes care of the wolves, nuggets and kings.