Lue "not sure" if LeBron will be ready by opener

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20992419/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-miss-preseason-finale-sore-left-ankle


Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James did not practice Wednesday and was ruled out of Friday's preseason finale against the Orlando Magic because of a sore left ankle, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue told reporters.

Lue also said he was "not sure" whether James would be ready to play in the Cavs' season opener on Tuesday against Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics.

"Got treatment all day today, so I'm not sure if we should be concerned or not," Lue said. "But it's pretty sore today, so we'll just see what happens."

James has never missed a season opener in his 14 NBA seasons.

James missed nearly two weeks of training camp after spraining his left ankle on the second day of practice, but he made his preseason debut Tuesday and contributed 17 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes in a 108-94 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Wednesday's setback did not sit well with the Cavs superstar, Lue said.

"Pretty mad, pretty pissed off," Lue said of James. "But I mean, it is what it is."

James hinted after the Bulls game that missing Friday was a possibility.

"I definitely wanted to test it tonight knowing that at least if I tested it tonight, I have a week until the regular season started if I don't play in the game on Friday," James said.

The Cavs, who shot only 40.5 percent as a team against Chicago, held a long practice Wednesday to try to get their players on the same page with or without James.

"We cleaned it up today and pretty much put in four sets that they will run throughout the course of the game and throughout the course of the season that keeps the floor spread, but it's continuous action," Lue said.

Lue said the sets were in his playbook for the Cavs last season, but he had yet to introduce them to this year's group, which ,features eight new players.

"We're going to work on it," he said. "We're going to continue to keep working on it and I think guys will get it down. They felt more comfortable with it today. We scrimmaged a lot today, and we put it in early. So guys feel more comfortable. We have to keep working at it. It's something new to us."

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14 seasons, many of which included deep playoff runs. He's got a lot of miles and last year he played some of the most minutes ever. I don't think this is sustainable. Ankle injuries can be minor, but they can also linger. If James doesn't play at his highest level or misses games, the Cavs *will* struggle. If this is the case, it'll have huge implications for the East race.


KJ

Hi,
I don't know if Lebron will be ready for the opener. But regardless, they have only 6 days left to put their shit together.
I watched most of the last night's game against Chi. In a few words:
- Bulls looked barely (if not below) on the level of 76's
- Cavs, as a team, looked mostly discombobulated
- Cavs could get anything going only when LJ, DWade, DRose, et al, went into iso mode

Hopefully, Cavs will implode and Celtics will go to the finals.

AK

I'm not really worried about Lebron and the Cavs.

What worries me is the Warriors.

I think the Celts can make the Finals this season or next season.
But I think the Celts are not yet ready for the Warriors.