Just relax and enjoy the 2014-15 NBA season
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James tosses chalk in the air before the start of an NBA basketball game against the Knicks Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, in Cleveland. Credit: AP / Tony Dejak
The celebration in Cleveland before LeBron James' first game back felt a little like a coronation for a city that so desperately wants to win a championship.
No one can blame the people in Cleveland for feeling good about the Cavaliers now that James has returned home and brought perennial All-Star Kevin Love with him.
But as the first week of the NBA season comes to a close, the best thing for the fans of Cleveland and other cities -- such as New York -- who go through extreme highs and deep lows is to remember these five letters: R-E-L-A-X. (Hat tip to Aaron Rodgers.)
James and the Cavaliers didn't play well in the opener and were stunned by the Knicks. The next night, the Cavs beat the Bulls in overtime in Chicago.
They easily could be 0-2 right now, and even if they were, it would be OK. They're a new team with a new coach. They need time to jell and figure out how to play together.
The same thing goes for the Knicks, although they're not a championship contender like the Cavaliers.
Many fans probably felt disenchanted, if not disgusted, when they fell behind by 35 against the Bulls on opening night, looking completely lost on both ends of the floor. Surely, visions of last season went through more than a few people's minds.
Then, when they beat the Cavaliers, certainly some immediately began thinking of the Knicks as a playoff team.
Derek Fisher still is playing with lineups and rotations, especially with starting point guard Jose Calderon out two to three weeks with a calf injury.
There probably will be nights when the Knicks look bad. But they should improve throughout the season, much like the Cavaliers. They just won't be nearly as good.
You again
Just as Anthony and the Knicks were James' first opponent in his homecoming, Anthony's Nuggets played in James' first NBA regular-season game in Cleveland in 2003.
The result was similar: Denver beat the Cavaliers and James shot 3-for-11 and scored seven points. He scored 17 points Thursday but shot 5-for-15 and had eight turnovers. "I remember 11 years ago, coming and playing one of LeBron's first games, and just feeling that same energy here 11 years later," Anthony said. "The energy is back here."
Wear it well
Travis Wear, destined for the D-League in early October, made the Knicks' roster. Inactive just hours before their opener, Wear was in uniform because of Calderon's health. Then, 24 hours later, the undrafted rookie was inserted in the first quarter and guarded James. "I had no idea, honestly," Wear said. "He called my name and I said, 'All right, let's go.' It's kind of a surreal experience [guarding James], but you kind of put that in the back of your mind because it's just competition. It's not anything more than that."
On your mark . . .
NBA commissioner Adam Silver will run the first leg and former Knick and Net Dikembe Mutombo the final anchor in Sunday's New York City Marathon as part of the first-ever relay team.
Among the others on the NBA All-Star Relay team are former Knicks Bernard King, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston and Greg Anthony, former Nets Darryl Dawkins, Albert King and Jason Collins, Garden president and CEO Tad Smith, Nets CEO Brett Yormark and MSG/ABC announcer Mike Breen.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
