The 72nd NBA Season got underway with the Boston Celtics taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The season opener marked Kyrie Irvin’s return to Cleveland – but the match was overshadowed by an unfortunate broken ankle to Gordon Hayward inside the first 5 minutes of the first quarter. Hayward was jumping for the rim and he landed badly as he collided with a Cav’s defender in mid-air, his fall twisted and broke his ankle.
Players were stunned in the midst of such an unlucky circumstance. We saw great sportsmanship from Dwayne Wayde and Lebron James as they shook his hand comforting as he was stretched off the arena.
The trio of Wade, Rose, and James was one we’ve been waiting to see. The Cavs led almost throughout the whole game but Boston rallied back and took the lead for the first time in the game with a second left in the 3rd, but, Derrick Rose scored a three just before the buzzer to regain the lead 72 – 71.
The fourth quarter was a tight tussle as both teams exchanged leads and Dwayne Wade made back to back blocks with Lebron also making one. With a minute left to play LeBron’s signature spin move saw him score as the Cleveland crowd rose to their seats – 99 – 98 to the Cavs with 1:04 seconds on the clock.
James was at it again as he held up play running down the clock and fed it to Kevin Love who was wide open and swished a three-pointer from downtown. Handing the Cleveland Cavaliers a four-point buffer with seconds to play.
Celtics tried to score but were marred by the Cavs defence and inaccurate shooting. The buzzer sounded and Kyrie Irvine and LeBron James embraced each other out of respect.
Cleveland Cavaliers 102 – 99 Boston Celtics
Point Leaders
- Lebron James – 29 Points (CLE)
- Jaylen Brown – 25 Points (BOS)
- Kyrie Irving – 22 Points (CLE)
Rebounds
- Lebron James – 16 (CLE)
- Jayson Tatum – 10 (BOS)
Assists
- Kyrie Irving – 9 (CLE)
- LeBron James – 9 (CLE)
