Love, James show chemistry in home opener
CLEVELAND — Kevin Love had 24 points and 14 rebounds, LeBron James scored 29 points and the Cavaliers defeated the Miami Heat 102-92 on Friday night in their home opener.
Love has double-doubles in his past two games. He hit consecutive threepointers late in the third quarter to give the Cavs some space after the Heat closed to three. The Cavs held the Heat to one basket through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, pushing the game out of reach.
Guard Dwyane Wade scored 25 points and forward Chris Bosh had 16 points and five rebounds for the Heat. Center Hassan Whiteside had nine points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
James and Love continued to flash terrific chemistry in the early part of the season after struggling to fit together at times last year. Love has been more aggressive since returning from offseason shoulder surgery, getting into the lane and attacking the basket.
The Heat closed to 60-57 on a drive by Wade with 5:15 left in the third, but Love made consecutive threes to extend the lead to 66-57.
The Cavs blew it open against the Heat’s bench in the fourth. Miami missed nine of its first 10 shots and turned the ball over twice. Two free throws by Love pushed the Cavs’ lead to 88-69 with 6:58 left.
James showed no signs of the back troubles that hampered him in training camp.
The meeting between James and his former team didn’t carry quite the same buzz as it did last season, although James acknowledged games against the Heat always will be special to him. Cavs coach David Blatt was hopeful games will soon reach a level of normalcy.
“There was such a buzz (last season) … I never felt like we were just playing the game,” Blatt said. “And that's what we need to do. Despite the fact that there's history, obviously, a year has gone by. We need to get out there and play basketball and leave the rest of that for you guys to have fun with.”