Cavs News: LeBron James to Miss First Game of Season vs. Indiana Pacers

Published by

Brad Sullivan

10 years ago

In an effort to spare LeBron James the rigors of having to play on consecutive nights, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue will be keeping him out of Wednesday night’s road matchup against the Indiana Pacers according to ESPN’s sources.

The absence is clearly for maintenance purposes, as James had played 38 minutes on Tuesday night, the third game in a row he’s reached that amount. The game was a hard-fought battle in which the Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors, 121-117, in a game that went down to the closing seconds.

James’s presence was needed in the game and he responded by narrowly missing a triple-double: 28 points, 14 assists, and nine rebounds.

In his previous two years since returning to the Cavaliers, the team has struggled when James has either been out due to injury or because of rest. They’ve also had problems simply winning in Indianapolis, so the pressure will be heightened on his teammates to improve the team’s season mark to 10-1 on the year.

Brad Sullivan

Brad Sullivan is a lead writer for Cavaliers Nation. He has spent much of life in the Cleveland, Ohio area, and has remained a Cavalier fan from their 1970 beginnings through the return of LeBron James. While that fandom was sorely tested during the Reign of Error known simply by one word, Stepien, that overall historical perspective will be part of his writing for Cavaliers Nation in the months ahead.