In another night of NBA preseason action, the Cleveland Cavaliers played for the first time, impressing with a win over Orlando Magic, featuring a very sharing and assisting LeBron James in the little time he played. The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back from a loss to beat Barcelona, led by Enes Kanter once again. The Los Angeles Clippers recovered from the previous shellacking at the hand of the Warriors by beating the Toronto Raptors, which included Blake Griffin throwing a shoe into the face of Corey Joseph.
Oklahoma City Thunder 92 Barcelona 89: The Thunder continue with their Spanish tour, this time with a slightly changed up lineup. Once again, Enes Kanter seemed to be really enjoying himself, scoring 24 points to lead the Thunder, getting 12 points from Russell Westbrook (2-for-7 from the line) and 10 from Victor Oladipo, while Steven Adams didn’t play. Alex Abrines, a former Barcelona player, had 6 points for the Thunder. Victor Claver, a former Blazers player, led Barcelona with 25 points.
Orlando Magic 92 Cleveland Cavaliers 117: A highlight film reel from LeBron James, especially early on, seemingly motivated to show his passing ability. Besides James, the Cavaliers started Chris Andersen, Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert and DeAndre Liggins. James scored 7 points and added 6 assists in 13 minutes. Off the bench, the promising Jordan McRae led the team with 20 points, and Kay Felder scored 14. The Magic, losing their second preseason game, had Jeff Green leading them with 19 points. Mario Hezonja scored 17 off the bench.
Utah Jazz 104 Phoenix Suns 99: A dominant performance by the Jazz starters, especially Rudy Gobert with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood didn’t play because of injuries, and Trey Lyles stood out among the bench players with 16 points. Gordon Hayward finished with 15. The Suns, also 1-1 in the preseason, were led by Brandon Knight with 17 points off the bench, getting 15 from T.J. Warren who started at the small forward position.
Toronto Raptors 98 Los Angeles Clippers 104: The Clippers weren’t overwhelmed this time, taking things a lot more seriously. Blake Griffin scored 24 points while Chris Paul had 15 assists. The Raptors didn’t play Kyle Lowry or Jared Sullinger, instead pairing Fred VanVleet with DeRozan in the backcourt. DeRozan led the Raptors with 20 points.