LeBron James may be 30 years old with an aching back and worn-out odometer, but that doesn't mean he likes taking nights off for rest. In October, James told reporters that he planned on playing in all 82 games this year.
LeBron James ‘wasn’t thrilled’ about sitting out Heat game
The Cavaliers were wary about having their star play two nights in a row on the road.
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That's why the Cavaliers' decision to hold James out of their Saturday night matchup in Miami against his former team -- a game which Cleveland eventually lost, 99-84 -- came as such a surprise. The Cavaliers were coming off a grueling overtime loss the night before in New Orleans, but no one expected James to miss the following day's tilt against the Heat and his former running mates.
“He wasn’t thrilled with the concept” of sitting out, a source told Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon. The source also added that James is indeed healthy and that the night off against the Heat was part of a pre-conceived plan, though Cavaliers head coach David Blatt claimed otherwise on Saturday.
“We had hoped to look at days of rest we could find that perhaps were not game-related,” Blatt said, via Cleveland.com. “Again, last night was a particular situation, an overtime game, played 44 minutes, played his heart out, very, very short turnaround. Tough, tough trip. Game in less than 24 hours. Those are the factors that came into play, more so than any plan up front.”
But according to Vardon’s source, the Cavaliers had Saturday night’s game against the Heat marked as a game James could sit out if the team felt he needed a night off. Not only did it come on the second night of a road back-to-back in two different cities, but it was also followed by two days off.
With James joining Kyrie Irving on the bench, the Cavaliers failed to put up a fight against the Heat. They're now 13-7 and have lost three in a row and six out of their last 11. Their next game will be Tuesday in Cleveland against the Blazers.
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