WASHINGTON—Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue era got off to a rocky start on Saturday as LeBron James and the Cavaliers were beaten 96-83 on their home floor by NBA Central Division rivals Chicago.
Any energy boost for James and the Cavs in their first game since head coach David Blatt was abruptly sacked on Friday—to be replaced by associate coach Lue—was quickly snuffed out by the Bulls, who scored the last 13 points of the opening quarter to take a 21-14 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Cavaliers shot 37.2 percent from the floor and made just nine of 22 from the free-throw line — and were booed by their home crowd.
James scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and with 13 rebounds and nine assists fell one assist shy of his first triple-double of the season.
It wasn’t enough to get the Cavs out of the hole they had dug.
“I thought guys got open shots,” Lue said. “We just didn’t make them.”
Lue said the Cavs couldn’t cope with the faster-paced style he wants to institute, which he believes will make better use of James and Kyrie Irving.
“I don’t think we’re in good enough shape,” Lue said. “I think early, we wanted to push it, we wanted to open the floor and I think we came out and did that and then I think we just dropped off the map. I think we got tired.”
“Ky wanted to come out early, Kevin (Love) wanted to come out early. I just don’t think we’re in good enough shape right now to play in the style that we want to play.”
The defeat capped a tumultuous 24 hours in Cleveland, where Blatt became the first coach to be fired from a team leading its conference.
James insisted he had no role in the dismissal of Blatt, who had guided the Cavs to last season’s NBA Finals where they fell in six games to the Golden State Warriors.
But the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player indicated he agreed with general manger David Griffin’s assessment that the Cavaliers lacked the cohesion and spirit needed for a title run.
Lue met with players early Saturday to talk about changing their style, but cautioned that improvement wouldn’t be immediate.
