(SportsNetwork.com) – King James meets the Unibrow Monday night as the
Cleveland Cavaliers entertain the New Orleans Pelicans at Quicken Loans Arena.
LeBron James and the Cavs will tip it off with Anthony Davis and the Pelicans
in a battle of NBA stars hoping to lead their teams back to the playoffs.
The Cavs are 2-3 on the season and New Orleans is 3-2. James made his return
to Cleveland in the offseason and has been disappointed with the team’s play
so far, but the Cavs handed the Denver Nuggets a 110-101 loss on Friday. James
led the way with 22 points and dished out 11 assists for his first double-
double of the season and 268th of his career.
Kevin Love, another newcomer to the Cavs, ended with 19 points and eight
rebounds, while Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving scored 17 and 12 points,
respectively, for Cleveland, which ended a two-game slide and bounced back
from a last-second loss in Utah.
The Cavs led 38-20 after the first quarter and held off the Nuggets the rest
of the way. They also had a season-low nine turnovers.
“I think the defense, the way we came out defensively, we sustained it,” James
said. “For the most part, we were in tune. We were locked in.”
Cleveland went 2-2 on the road trip and will play nine of the next 11 games at
Quicken Loans Arena.
Love is averaging 18.0 points and 11.2 rebounds in his new digs.
The Cavs are playing their second home game of the season and lost to New York
on Oct. 30.
New Orleans has prevailed in two straight games and recorded a 100-99 victory
over San Antonio on Saturday. Davis used his length to an advantage and drove
the lane for the game-winning lay-up with 6.6 seconds to go. The defending
champion Spurs didn’t rest their top players in this one and committed 19
turnovers.
Davis, who leads the NBA in blocks and rebounds, posted 27 points, 11 rebounds
and six blocks, and Tyreke Evans added 18 points in the win.
“I caught the ball and I was in attack mode,” Davis said.
Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 11 assists for the Pelicans, who made 47.1
percent from the field. Holiday played tight defense on Spurs young star Kawhi
Leonard at the end to seal the victory.
The Pelicans are playing six of eight games on the road and won both meetings
with Cleveland last season. The Cavs, of course, didn’t have James or Love, so
tonight’s results could differ.
