NBA video: LeBron James and Australian teammate Matthew Dellavedova firing together
LEBRON James and Aussie Matthew Dellavedova were back on the same page in a dominant display Thursday, following the weekend’s awkward viral moment.
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LEBRON James and Australian teammate Matthew Dellavedova were back on the same page Thursday after their awkward weekend moment went viral.
Dellavedova made the most of his latest starting appearance with 14 points, four assists, two steals and two rebounds in 29:36 during Cleveland’s 98-93 win over the Indiana Pacers.
The Australian guard has started all three of the Cavs’ pre-season games while regular starter Kyrie Irving recovers from an ankle injury. The Cavaliers are undefeated during that time.
James, meanwhile, turned in his most emphatic performance of the pre-season against the Pacers, contributing 26 points, four assists and three rebounds.
It was a welcome return to action for both players after a headline moment against James’s ex-team Miami Heat on the weekend.
It appeared to many that James had became confused while playing old teammates and ended up deliberately blocking Dellavedova by mistake.
The four-time NBA MVP suggested Thursday the incident was just a mixup.
“For non-basketball people, our coverage is for me to show and for Delly to go under me and we just didn’t get the call right at the time. Delay was supposed to slide under me and we kind of ran into each other,” James said.
“So, for non-basketball people, they like to critique everything that I do. It’s stupid.”
Dellavedova said that it wasn’t until he saw the video of the play that he realised it looked strange.
“He just showed out (on the ball handler) and I just needed to go under. So, it wasn’t really anything. I mean, you know how the media can get, right? It’s obviously more crazy with anything involving LeBron,” Dellavedova explained.
The Cavs’ odd couple had no further mishaps on Thursday in their best combination so far.
Originally published as NBA video: LeBron James and Australian teammate Matthew Dellavedova firing together