Cavaliers drop preseason opener 118-117

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVS BET WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - Tonight’s exhibition game at Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland was the unofficial beginning of what Clevelander hope is an eight month journey to an NBA Championship as the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed the Chicago Bulls to Rocket Arena for the two teams’ first preseason contest. The game was well contested by both teams and came down to the last minute as the Bulls came out on top 118-117.

The Cavs looked like a well oiled machine early on with the starting five of Jarrett Allen, De’Andre Hunter, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jaylon Tyson as they jumped out to a 17-6 lead with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

The two teams made wholesale substitutions during the timeout and two of the notable players to enter the game for Cleveland were Larry Nance, Jr., and Lonzo Ball. They both receive loud ovations from the crowd. After one quarter the Cavs led 37-26. Both teams played 10 players in the first 12 minutes. Ayo Dosunmu led all scorers with 10 points. Evam Mobley paced the Cavs with eight points in six minutes.

The Cavs sent their starting five out to start the second quarter. With 2:02 left in the quarter, the Bulls pulled to within three points at 53-50 on a three pointer by Kevin Huerter. Cavs bench boss Kenny Atkinson called an immediate timeout. After the timeout, the Bulls took the lead when Tre Jones was fouled and hit two free throws. When the halftime buzzer sounded the game was tied 57-57. Dosunmu and Hunter lead all scorers in the first half with 12 points apiece.

The Cavs played ten players in the opening two quarters, players who will see consistent time in the rotation when the regular season begins.

Early in the second, the Bulls took a brief 62-59 lead. The Cavs tied it, but the Bulls then went on a nice run and took a 70-64 lead with 6:47 left on a fast break dunk by Matas Buzelis after a steal by Jones on a turnover by Allen.

Cavs second round pick (49th overall) Tyrese Proctor, the Aussie out of Duke University entered the game in the third period and made an immediate impact scoring 14 points in his first nine minutes of action.

The fourth quarter was very competitive with players from both teams who wanted to make an impression on their coaches.

In the end the Bulls rallied in the fourth quarter to take the contest 118-117.

A combined 31 players saw action in the game, 16 for Cleveland and 15 for Chicago. Four players on the Cavs roster saw no action, three were not expected to play in Darius Garland, Max Strus, and Sam Merrill, the fourth was Norchad Omier who is a non-drafted free agent forward from Baylor. He saw time for Cavaliers in five games in the Summer League.

Buzelis ended up leading the game in scoring with 19 points. Craig Porter, Jr and Hunter led the Cavs with 17 points apiece. 14 of the 16 Cavaliers tallied points in the game. The only Cavaliers who did not score were Tyson and Ball.

Atkinson raved about what he saw from Thomas Bryant after the game. Bryant signed with the Cavs as a late free agent signing on September 25th.

The Cavs will now travel to Chicago to play the Bulls in their second of four preseason games on Thursday night at 8 pm at the United Center.

The Cavs will tip off the regular season on October 22 in New York at Madison Square Garden against Eastern Conference rival New York Knicks at 7 pm..