King James is back in Cleveland and fans will see him back in his No.23 Cavaliers jersey when the team opens its season against the New York Knicks on Thursday night October 30, 8:00 P.M, at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers have a star studded line-up with a good mix of young talented players and veteran pieces that know how to win. The team looked pretty good in preseason and should be able to handle a Knicks team who are still reinventing themselves in Phil Jackson's triangle offense. The game can be viewed live via online streaming.
The New York Knicks are still fresh from a crushing defeat in the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. It was 104-80 route and the Knicks looked so bad that Carmelo Anthony had to be pulled out with a quarter left in the game because there was no way for the team to claw its way back to the game. The Knicks shot just 36.5 percent from the field, while playing poor defense allowing the Bulls to knock down 50.7 percent of their shots. Anthony led the Knicks with only 14 points and Amar'e Stoudemire scored 12 points. No other Knicks starter scored in the double figures while Tim Hardaway Jr. and J.R. Smith were horrible from the filed with a combined 4-18. The team is clearly lost under the triangle and has yet to become familiar with the system.
With that being said, this game won't probably go well for the Knicks. They are visiting Cleveland on a back-to-back, one night after they got demolished by the Bulls, facing a well rested team that has the best basketball player in the planet, arguably the best power forward in the NBA in Kevin Love, and an elite point guard in Kyrie Irving. The Cavs, the heavy favorite to win, can score from anywhere on the court and the Knicks horrendous defense will make it easy for LeBron and company to get buckets - plenty of them.
This should be another blowout loss for the Knicks as they struggle to score the ball on offense and stop the Cavaliers from scoring on the outside. If the Bulls managed to demolish the Knicks on their home court, you can only imagine what the Cavs are going to do in a home game that features the triumphant return of their King. The Cavs will come out strong on offense and will score above 100 points while the Knicks will continue to make defensive lapses all night long. While the Knicks seem lost and cluless at times under the triangle, the team should be able to score above 90 points given Cleveland's still developing defensive identity.
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