Dribbles: One game, one loss, plenty of promise for Cavs

Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ 119-111 season-opening road loss to the Knicks on Wednesday. …

1. Boy oh boy, am I ever glad basketball is back. I feel like a new man again. As for the Cavs, for the most part, I liked what I saw.

2. Yes, it was a loss. Believe it or not, the Cavaliers will not start 15-0 again. But look out, 15-1, here we come.

3. As you know, Donovan Mitchell (31 points) was his typical self, putting on his Spida-Man cape and scoring 21 in the third quarter. The Cavs seemed like goners early in the third. Thanks largely to Mitchell, they rallied to take a brief lead. I didn’t see that coming and I bet the Knicks didn’t, either.

4. Overall, I think you have to be pleased — no Darius Garland, no De’Andre Hunter, no Max Strus, and you still made a major game of it in Madison Square Garden.

5. I just kept thinking, “If the Knicks gave the Cavs this close of a game in Cleveland without two starters, including an All-Star, not to mention their best bench guy … well, I wouldn’t feel so great about it. Win or not.”

6. I’m not trying to make excuses for the Cavs. This is the NBA. I think that stands for No Babies Allowed. Which is why it’s so shocking that this big baby is still around to write and talk about it.

7. Anyway, back to the game. Mitchell was dynamite. Evan Mobley (22 points, four 3-pointers) wasn’t far behind. Sam Merrill scored 19, hitting five threes of his own. You also have to like what Larry Nance Jr. offered (10 points, six rebounds) in just 17 minutes off the bench. Act II of Junior with the Cavs showed promise.

8. At the end of last season, president of basketball operations Koby Altman said the Cavs needed to get “tougher.” I thought they were pretty tough here. Fans will tell you they weren’t tough enough. Coach Kenny Atkinson would agree.

9. Atkinson to reporters in New York (via Chris Fedor): “I think they were just a more aggressive team. There’s just kind of a line of aggressiveness, and they were way over the line. We were below that line. I thought they kind of dominated us in every area, especially early.”

10. That’s OK. There are 81 more to go. Jarrett Allen (four points, four rebounds) will have to be better in most of them. I’m not going to say he was terrible. He wasn’t. He was active defensively. But he can’t be quite this quiet. We’re not saying anything he doesn’t already know.

11. I liked what Lonzo Ball offered most of the night. He struggled shooting the ball (1-of-7), but the guy has played 35 games combined in three years. He deserves time.

12. Jaylon Tyson started. He looked like a young player who was forced to start the first game of his second season. Not bad, but room for growth. Another thing we already knew.

13. Second-round pick Tyrese Proctor looked steady. I’m glad he’s part of the rotation at the moment. The short-handed Cavs need him. Craig Porter Jr. only got seven minutes. Dean Wade was strong again defensively and went 3-of-3 shooting (10 points).

14. There’s a long way to go between now and April. Like, 100 years. At least, it will probably feel that way. Already, the Cavaliers look like the team we keep saying they’ll be.

15. Eventually, they will figure out a way to win these games — undermanned, on the road, against another contender. It just wasn’t meant to be on Wednesday. And that’s a-OK.

16. Final note: My website has changed quite a bit. I’m less of a “Cavs reporter” and more of a one-man operation who covers the entire league out of Cleveland. Dribbles will still pop up from time to time, just not as regularly as before.

17. Truth is, Hoops Wire has evolved. What started as a Cavs-heavy site has become a full-blown NBA outlet, with stories and notebooks from every corner of the league. That’s where my focus is now — keeping the content flowing, keeping it fresh, and giving you something new every time you stop by.

18. So if you don’t see Dribbles for a bit, don’t worry. I’m still here, still writing, still grinding. Just widening the view.