The game between the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday had a "certain level of strangeness", according to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who had to play against his former star player, LeBron James.
The Cavaliers beat the Heat in a 122-119 overtime victory during the preseason matchup that happened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a report by AP Sports on Yahoo, Spoelstra admitted it was a bit strange playing against James while Bosh hopes everyone can now "move on."
''If you have to do something like this, I think it really benefits both teams to get the awkwardness out of the way in the preseason. There was certainly a level of strangeness to it,'' Spoelstra said.
James was able to contribute seven points and eight assists in the 20 minutes that he played during the game which was also his first time to go against his former team where he played for four years.
''For me it was a special moment to be back there competing against my old teammates. I didn't get that awkward feeling, but a lot of memories came back about the things that we accomplished,'' James told AP Sports.
LeBron's performance
Cleveland.com noticed that the game was not James' best play as he committed a total of three turnovers but this does not seem to concern him a lot.
"Well, for me I don't think I personally found my rhythm but it's kind of secondary for me right now. What I gave found is my team rhythm. I know where guys are going to get shots I know how to get guys shot. For me, in the next couple of weeks I'll start to hone in on what I need to do as my body continues to form into regular season schedule-shape," James told Cleveland.com.
It was observed during the game that James did not converse with his former teammates during the whole match but he shook hands with Chris Bosh before the start of the match.
''I like the fact that we could get everything out of the way, that we could just come out here for the preseason and kind of just let everybody see us. We can move on,'' said Bosh, as quoted by AP Sports. He also admitted that it was tough for him to guard James.
One of the game highlights, according to a report on au.news.yahoo.com, was the moment when James forgot which team he is playing for. James reportedly set a screen for Norris Cole instead of playing defense for the Cavs. It was a delight for James' fans to see him get a bit confused with his team but his teammates now are certainly hoping that another incident will not happen again during their matchup on Dec. 25 in Miami for the regular NBA season.
