NBA Basketball Preseason News & Scores 2014: Cleveland Cavaliers Score 107-80 Blowout Win Against Maccabi Tel Aviv
The Cleveland Cavaliers opened their NBA preseason campaign with a bang as they cruised to a 107-80 blowout victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kyrie Irving took the spotlight from LeBron James and Kevin Love as he finished with 16 points to go along with five assists and two steals, while Tristan Thompson proved that he can contribute to the star-studded squad, racking up 14 points and 13 rebounds.
James ended up with 12 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists before sitting out the entire second half, and Love added eight points and 11 rebounds in his Cavaliers debut.
The victory also gave Cavaliers coach David Blatt a winning debut, but he admitted that it was hard to take because it came against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team he coached for six years in Europe. James also said after that match that he felt how nervous Blatt was heading into the game.
"He was very nervous, excited, uptight -- and rightfully so," James said via ESPN. "He has a lot of ties to that team, a lot of ties to that community, that city, that country and his first real game is against his former team. So I don't know how much he slept last night."
Sylvan Landesberg led Maccabi Tel Aviv with 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, and Jeremy Pargo racked up 18 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Video highlights and complete box scores of the Cavaliers-Maccabi Tel Aviv match are available on this link.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors also emerged victorious in their first preseason game, escaping with a 99-94 win against the Sacramento Kings at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
DeMar DeRozan erupted for 21 points, and Jonas Valanciunas added 12 points and four boards for the Raptors, who outscored the Kings, 31-19, in the final period en route to the win.
NBA 2014 preseason action will continue on Monday featuring four matches that are listed below.
- Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. EST)
- New Orleans Pelicans at Atlanta Hawks (7:30 p.m. EST)
- Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls (8 p.m. EST)
- Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m. EST)
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